Heika’s Take: DeSmith shines bright as opportunistic Stars defeat Flames

The Stars are 5-0-2 in their past seven games while not playing their best hockey – and Thursday might have been the best example of why.

Casey DeSmith came up with his best game of an already impressive year – stopping 46 of 48 shots – and Dallas received incredibly opportunistic goal-scoring to beat the Calgary Flames, 5-2, at Scotiabank Saddledome. The win runs the Stars’ point streak to seven games and puts them at 47-21-4 overall.

While coach Pete DeBoer was “disappointed” about a 4-3 win in Edmonton on Wednesday, he said he was encouraged by how the Stars were able to manage Thursday’s game.

“When you look at the schedule the last week, and the travel, and this game, there’s not many teams that come in and grind out a win,” DeBoer said. “We did that, and our guys deserve credit for that.”

It was a clunky game at times. Dallas was much better to start and took a 1-0 lead seven minutes in on a Roope Hintz goal. Hintz finished off a nice shift from linemates Mikko Rantanen and Jason Robertson for his 26th goal, and that was huge to give the team some early breathing room. DeSmith – and a little bit of luck – took over after that.

Calgary appeared to tie the game at 1-1, but officials said the Flames “kicked” the puck into the net, so the goal was disallowed. Calgary then scored again, but this time the Stars filed an official protest for goaltender interference. Stars video coaches Patrick Dolan and Chris Demczuk made the call, and Toronto agreed to keep the score 1-0 Dallas.

The play was gutsy, as Dallas would have received a delay of game penalty if they were wrong, and that could have really swung momentum.

“It was a big call,” DeBoer said. “It probably changed the game. They get a ton of momentum if they score there, and it was not an easy call to make, especially at this time of year. I thought they did a fantastic job.”

DeSmith also offered kudos, as it made his job a lot easier.

“I’m really happy it’s not my job to make those challenges,” DeSmith said with a smile. “The video guys, shout out to them, that was a fantastic challenge by them and a really timely one, because that turned the tide back in our favor.”

DeSmith was under duress for most of the game. While Dallas was much better in the first period, getting outshot 13-11, the final 40 minutes was a blitzkrieg. Calgary had an 18-5 advantage in shots on goal in the second period and a 17-3 edge in the third. The Stars allowed a season-high 107 shot attempts against (while getting 51), meaning DeSmith was constantly bouncing up and down and dealing with all manner of physical contact.

“They did a great job getting to the net front, it was hard to see all night,” DeSmith said. “I had guys coming into the crease all night.”

On the other end, Calgary goalie Dustin Wolf wasn’t near as busy, but he did see quality chances. Hintz’s shot was a pretty one, while Wyatt Johnston’s tally in the second period was one of the best individual efforts of the season. Johnston swooped in on the left wing, and put a great shot on net that Wolf stopped. Then, as he was fading away, Johnston stuck with the play and lifted the rebound in for his 28th goal of the season and a 2-1 lead.

A minute later, Mason Marchment made a fantastic pass to Mikael Granlund, and the mid-season acquisition lifted in his 19th goal to give Dallas a 3-1 lead heading into the third period.

Calgary made that 3-2 in the first minute of the third on a power play goal, and that’s when DeSmith probably did his best work. Rantanen made it 4-2 before Matt Duchene popped in an empty-netter for the final score.

“We had some lucky bounces tonight, but we’ll take it,” DeSmith said. “I think it was just, ‘Do your job, defend the scoring area, chip pucks out, chip pucks in, grind it out.’ The guys played a hard game last night and another hard game tonight against a really hungry team. We had our work cut out for us, but I thought we weathered it pretty well.”

In the end, Calgary left frustrated and remained on the outside looking in at the wild card picture with a record of 34-26-11.

Dallas continues to find different ways to win and has some of the best offensive numbers in the NHL since Jan. 1. Hintz, Robertson and Johnston are among the league leaders in the past three months, and newcomers like Granlund and Rantanen are showing a calmness when presented with scoring chances.

“We have those types of players,” DeBoer said. “They don’t need a lot of looks. We’re not a team that slings pucks from everywhere on the ice, so if you just look at the shot clock, I think you would be making a mistake. We look for quality and when our guys get quality looks they finish.”

The Stars have 98 points, four behind Winnipeg for first place in the Central Division and the Western Conference. They remain five points ahead of Colorado with a game in hand.

“You want to finish as high as you can in the standings, try to guarantee home ice for as long as you can, so it’s super important,” Johnston said. “There was some happiness for getting the win, but we made it a little bit too hard on Casey. We would have liked to play a little bit more in their end, especially with the two goal lead going into the third.”

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.