First Shift: Top line continues to be critical piece to Stars’ puzzle

Not unlike the entire team, the Stars’ top line has been deceptive this season.

While the feeling is it hasn’t quite hit its stride yet, it still is leading the team in scoring and leading the team to wins. Bottom line, Dallas is 7-1-1, and Roope Hintz, Joe Pavelski and Jason Robertson are a primary reason why.

“It’s coming,” said Pavelski, the 39-year-old winger who has 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) in nine games. “There’s been times where it could be a little better from a line, and what we expect of each other.”

Hintz has actually been having a breakout start. He missed all of training camp while nursing injuries, but has come out firing. He leads the team with 25 shots on goal in just eight games and also has 11 points (5 goals, 6 assists) to lead the team in scoring. Hintz converted two smart plays from Pavelski for goals that pushed the lead from 2-1 to 4-1 in a 4-3 win over Edmonton on Thursday, and coach Pete DeBoer said the clutch nature of the goals was evident.

“We got some really timely goals tonight at important moments in the game to extend the game to 3-1 and extend it to 4-1,” DeBoer said.

Hintz also fed Pavelski for a one-timer on the second goal of the game, so the line was all over the ice. Pavelski continues to amaze in his 18th NHL season, and teammates are thankful they have his wisdom and eternal youth.

“I have to get the same water tap that he’s got,” goalie Scott Wedgewood said. “He’s a very smart player. People might take away his [lack of] speed, but he’s not late on plays, he’s in the right spot and he’s smart about it. He knows when to take his chances, he knows where the play is going to go, anticipation, and you don’t get that without playing 1,000 games and getting 1,000 points. He’s just a world-class player, a world-class human and I’m glad he’s on our side.”

Teammate Matt Duchene added, “He’s just smart. The pass he makes to Roope there, that’s elite, that’s as good as it gets in this league. He’s played the same style of game his whole career and he takes care of himself, he works hard, he loves the game and he tries to get better all of the time. That’s what it takes. You see a lot of guys at that age and even younger, kind of shut off to loving the game and he loves the game and it’s great to see.

Pavelski said he simply tries to focus on one day at a time, one play at a time, and it’s working out for him.

“I feel good, I’m playing with some good players and getting in some good spots,” Pavelski said. “For me, it’s supporting those guys finding holes and kind of what I’ve done the last couple of years with them. I think our game is definitely building. I think tonight we had some good chemistry along the way and it’s fun playing with those guys.”

The scary thing is they could get even better. Robertson tallied 1.33 points per game last season and unleashed 3.81 shots per game. He’s at 0.88 points and 2.44 shots per game this season.

“There’s definitely more out there for us and the last little bit you can tell it’s coming,” Pavelski said. “Tonight, there were good support plays and Roope’s speed and the way he can finish off rushes and things, it makes it easy and creates some space. It was a good night for him.”

And the entire line, too.

Key Numbers

10
That’s how many goals the Canucks scored on Thursday in a 10-1 win over the San Jose Sharks. Vancouver leads the NHL in scoring at 4.60 goals per game. They and the Stars (10-4 win at Buffalo on March 9) are the only two teams to score 10 goals in a game in 2023.

34.3 percent
Vancouver ranks second in the NHL in power play success at 34.3 percent. Dallas ranks third in penalty kill success at 93.6 percent.

4.78
In three games against the Canucks in his career, Jake Oettinger is 0-2-1 with a 4.78 GAA and .829 save percentage.

He Said It

“It’s critical. We saw it last year. We had to ride [Jake] because of Wedgewood’s injury down the stretch, and fatigue’s real on starting goaltenders with the type of schedule we play. He had offseason surgery, and because of that he couldn’t train and practice like he wanted to in a normal summer, so we wanted to make sure we didn’t ride him into the ground the first 10 or 20 games based on what he went through over the summer. We’ve gotten Wedgie into two of the first six games, which is a good number, and we’re going to hope to continue with at least that going forward.”

- Stars coach Pete DeBoer on how getting more games for backup goalie Scott Wedgewood can help No. 1 goalie Jake Oettinger this season. Wedgewood beat Edmonton on Thursday.

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 Twitter @MikeHeika.