A fitting finish: Stars turn attention to regular season after win in preseason finale

The Stars’ preseason was not perfect.

But after a 3-2 win over Colorado on Saturday gave the lads in Victory Green a sturdy 5-1-0 record in exhibition play, the consensus was there was more good than bad.

“At the end of the day, we’re healthy coming out of this game and that’s all you can ask for,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. "And I liked some things.”

There were indeed some things to like.

Dallas outscored the opposition 19-14 over six games and found ways to win games in both overtime and the shootout. On Saturday, they allowed a tying goal with six minutes left in the third but then played some of their best hockey of the evening. Colin Blackwell pushed home the game-winner off of assists from Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson, and then Dallas clamped things down to get the win. The Stars allowed just four shots on goal in the third period, and really did raise their level of play when the pressure was dialed up.

“It’s always good to get reps in different situations,” said Robertson, who finished with a goal and an assist. “They played hard and we were able to work on some structure and stick with it.”

Jake Oettinger stopped 19 of 21 shots and took the win. He went 2-0-0 in preseason with a GAA of 1.97 and a save percentage of .905. That was solid for the now veteran backstop.

“I think, for me, it was conditioning and traffic you can’t really simulate in practice, so it was nice to get those game reps,” Oettinger said.

He also picked up an assist with a nice pass to Johnston, which was turned into a goal for Robertson. Through three preseason games, Robertson had 3 goals and 2 assists for 5 points. Johnston, meanwhile, had 3 goals and 4 assists for 7 points.

Those are good signs for a team that was actually focusing on defense during the exhibition season.

In addition, Dallas has some roster decisions it has to make, so several forwards were able to show themselves off. Jamie Benn is out following surgery to repair a punctured lung, and that means a forward spot is open in the here and now. In addition, Oskar Bäck didn’t play Saturday and could be dealing with an injury. That means any one (or maybe all three) of Justin Hryckowian, Arttu Hyry and Adam Erne (who is on a professional tryout contract) could be needed. The trio played together on the fourth line and Hyry scored a goal on a fierce shift by the entire line. They also combined for a couple of heavy shifts in the third period.

“They give us energy, they give you territory,” Gulutzan said. “Over 82 games, that helps a lot. You could see they fit in. They give us some juice, they compete.”

Erne is on a tryout, so he would have to be signed to a contract to play in the NHL. Hyry and Hryckowian can go to the minors, so they also are in flux. But there is a very good chance any of them could be key players this year.

That’s an important part of training camp.

“I’ve really liked the way they fit in,” Gulutzan said. “It’s all about how can we make the best roster for Day 1? We have a lot of moving parts there.”

They have time before the season opener on Thursday in Winnipeg, but they are out of games to watch it all in action. The hope is they have seen all that they need to see.

“We definitely have some kinks we have to work on,” Robertson said. “But we have some structure and if guys play with instincts and make plays, I think we’ll sort it all out.”

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.