Heika's Take: Stars have a huge night in triumphant win over Bruins

Alexander Radulov hadn't scored a goal in 28 games.
Jamie Benn hadn't tallied a point in 11.
Luke Glendening was held off the scoresheet for 24 games.
That all ended on Sunday night. The Stars got the depth scoring they needed and took a 6-1 win over the Boston Bruins. It was important for a lot of reasons, but mostly because Dallas is at a key juncture in the season and needs to make a statement heading into the second half of the schedule.

"That was probably the best game we have played all year," Stars coach Rick Bowness said. "Both ends of the ice. The power play got a big goal, and we killed a penalty. That's what we need. We need the contributions from the other lines. Seguin's line stepped up big tonight, Glendening got a big goal for us, Rads. That's what we need. We need some more offense spread out through the team."

The Stars have ridden on the coat tails of the top line of Roope Hintz centering Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski for much of the season, and that trio added a goal and an assist on Sunday. But the rest of the scoring depth was front and center on this night.
Tyler Seguin was fantastic against his old team with two goals and an assist, fueling a line with Jamie Benn and Denis Gurianov. Radulov looked like his old self, tallying a breakaway goal while playing on a line with Jacob Peterson and Joel Kiviranta. And Glendening helped the fourth line add a goal.
"We're just trying to chip in and help Roope's line a little bit," Benn said. "We've all got to be much better than the first half."

Several players are behind their scoring averages, and that means they could be a big help in the second half of the season if they start contributing a little more. Benn has 10 goals and nine assists for 19 points in 42 games. Seguin has 14 goals and eight assists for 22 points in 42 games. Radulov has two goals and 13 assists for 15 points in 36 games.
"It's always great to score, even if it was a while that I couldn't score," Radulov said. "Always keep pushing and try to do the little things right for the team. I knew that at some point it's going to turn around and go my way. Hopefully I'm going to grab it and keep going."

One of the interesting things about Sunday is that Seguin's two goals were in transition, while Radulov's was on a breakaway. It showed the potential for high-end skill from the team that goes beyond the top line.
Bowness said the team has been preaching that good defense leads to offensive chances, and it embraced that philosophy against the Bruins. Solid plays in the defensive end often created odd-man rushes and open ice chances.
"Playing good defense and breaking the puck out and coming at them with speed," Bowness said to the secret to success. "Coming underneath the puck. If you get out of your zone with speed and you have underneath speed, then that's where it's going to come from. They made some great plays tonight."
It was a continuation of some coaching talk he started in the morning. Asked if his team needed to balance the difference between 5-4 games and 2-1 games, Bowness said the real goal is to win games 5-1 or 6-1. That's what they did Sunday.
Of course, getting those scores is a lot easier when the Seguin line or the Radulov line are humming. Radulov has battled all season to come back from an injury and has been much better in recent games.
"That's the best Rads has skated all year," Bowness said. "It looked good. Kivi is a worker and skater, and that line has clicked a little bit, so hopefully they can keep it going as well."
Likewise, the Seguin-Benn combination with Gurianov also is starting to make plays on a regular basis.
"He's been skating really well," Bowness said of Seguin, who also is coming back from an injury that required surgery. "That road trip he skated really well. In Buffalo he was a force, and he's getting his legs back underneath him and I think he's feeling a whole lot more confident with his legs, his body and his game."
Mix that with the goaltending of Jake Oettinger, and it was a very solid win against a very good Boston team. Oettinger was able to stare down one of the best offensive teams in hockey and allow just one goal on 26 shots.
"They've been one of the best teams in the league for the last 10 years, so it's always a good challenge and I just want to show that I can be counted on in big games against those top teams," Oettinger said. "Whenever your team can put up goal support like that for you it's huge and you just need a couple key saves and you know the guys are going to do the rest. It's just felt really good."

For the coaching staff, as well.
"Jake was great tonight," Bowness said. "He made the saves that we needed him to make at the right time. The timely save."
Timely saves and timely goals? Well, that's a formula for a big win. Now, the team has to take on the Calgary Flames on Tuesday as the two clubs jostle for playoff positioning in the Western Conference. A win would go a long way in making the All-Star break a positive experience.
"We're in the playoff race so every point for us matters right now," Radulov said. "We can't afford to lose two in a row. I think everybody battled hard today. We played Dallas Stars hockey."
Don't miss your chance to see the Stars continue their homestand Tuesday against the Calgary Flames at 7:30 p.m. Get your tickets now!
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.