Heika’s Take: Stars get strong wake-up call in lopsided loss to Jets

Some tests can be affirming. Other tests can be wake-up calls.

The Stars heard a pretty strong ringing in Winnipeg on Friday night. Given an opportunity to make up ground on the division-leading Jets at Canada Life Centre, Dallas took a 4-1 loss and fell further behind in the race to possibly improve its seed in the playoffs.

Instead, the Stars (42-21-2, 86 points) are now 10 points back of the Jets (46-17-4, 96 points) with 17 games to go. While the Stars have two games in hand, they really could have used a win in this head-to-head – both for the mathematics of the standings, and also for the psychological boost.

“They’re the team to beat right now,” said defenseman Cody Ceci. “We fought hard lately to make up some ground, and it’s just unfortunate the way it went. It’s frustrating to do that.”

The Stars struggled to create strong scoring chances, and then the Jets took advantage of some nice transition plays. Winnipeg sent the puck up ice eight minutes into the first period and Mark Scheifele fed a trailing Dylan Samberg for a nice shot that beat Jake Oettinger from distance. The all-important first goal brought energy into the building and fueled some more strong play from the Jets.

“They’re a good structured team,” said forward Mason Marchment, who scored the Stars’ only goal. “They break out well, they come up together well and their D are always in the rush. It can be hard to get on top of them, but they only had 10 shots or 11 shots in the first two periods. It’s hard to say that we really played bad, but at the same time we’ve got to do a little more to get on the inside and create a little more.”

The second transition came later in the first period as Winnipeg once again capitalized on a Stars turnover, and Kyle Connor cashed in on the other end with a wicked shot that beat Oettinger inside the post.

While the Stars have bounced back from 2-0 deficits before, this one felt different.

“If you’re going to be stubborn and turn the puck over all night, it makes anybody’s transition game look pretty good,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “Listen, they’ve got some skilled guys, and if you’re going to make poor decisions with the puck, then they’re going to look good.”

DeBoer said the Stars’ bigger problem was their lack of creativity and puck possession to make the Jets defend. Instead, Dallas fell prey to a strong Winnipeg team game that sucked the energy out of its attack and protected goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

“We weren’t competitive enough,” DeBoer said. “I thought we made it too easy on their goaltender. They defended hard, but we knew they defended hard, their numbers said that. We just didn’t pay enough of a price to get inside and make it difficult for them. I thought defensively, we were okay, we didn’t give up a lot, I thought they were opportunistic in the chances they got, but we didn’t do near enough to create offense out there.”

Dallas finished with a 25-22 advantage in shots on goal, but Winnipeg had the better scoring chances. Hellebuyck moves to 39-9-3 and is a heavy favorite to win the Vezina Trophy this season. Oettinger allowed four goals on 22 shots and has now given up nine goals in his past two starts against top teams in the West. He sits at 30-15-2 on the season, but is 3-3-0 in his past six starts.

Winnipeg went up 4-0 in the third period on a goal by Morgan Barron before Marchment struck back with his 16th goal of the season to make the final 4-1.

“They frustrated us and clogged it up,” said Ceci. “It was tough to get through there. They clogged it up better than we did.”

The Stars and Oettinger get the chance to redeem themselves pretty quickly as they play at Colorado on Sunday afternoon. Dallas is three points ahead of the Avalanche with two games in hand for second place in the Central Division. With the loss to the Jets, it looks more likely that Dallas will face Colorado in the First Round of the playoffs. Sunday’s game will be for seeding purposes, but also to send a message.

“We’ve just got to flush that one and get ready for the next one,” Marchment said. “It’s just as big a game as the next one. You have to let this one fuel you and put it behind you.”

Because that’s what good teams do.

“We’re learning about ourselves, we’re learning about the best teams in the conference and what we have to do to compete,” DeBoer said. “There are some good lessons in the game for us.”

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.