Heika’s Take: Stars keep streaking, post fifth straight victory with OT win over Jets

There’s a great line in The Avengers where Loki and Tony Stark are discussing an impending battle and Loki says, “I have an army.”

Stark then quips: “We have a Hulk.”

For Stars fans, that retort can be changed to, “We have a Moose,” but the sentiment is really quite the same.

In just 73 games in a Stars uniform, Mikko Rantanen has led the team in points with 86 (25 goals, 61 assists) and a shocking film-reel of highlight plays. He did it again on Monday, beating four Winnipeg Jets players en route to a huge tally in an eventual 4-3 overtime win at American Airlines Center.

It might be the “Goal of the Year” for the lads in Victory Green and was reminiscent of the heroics he displayed in the playoffs against Colorado and Winnipeg last season. But it also was a reminder that they needed the entire Avengers team to get the win. Yes, Rantanen put the Stars ahead with seven minutes left in regulation, but Winnipeg tied the game and Jake Oettinger, Matt Duchene and Thomas Harley played huge roles in getting the two points in the extra frame to push Dallas to 33-14-9, including five straight wins.

It was a fun night for a lot of reasons at the AAC.

“I think it's great,” said Harley. “I think we're earning our wins now, which is even better. That stretch we went through when we weren't winning was tough. We didn't deserve to win and now we've worked our way out of it, and we're a better team now.”

That’s been a trend in recent games. Yes, Dallas has allowed teams to get back into games, but it has gone toe-to-toe with big rivals in Vegas, Utah and Winnipeg and come out on top.

“We lost a little bit of our edge,” coach Glen Gulutzan said of a 2-6-4 slump in December and January. “We got off to a good start [in the season] and then we thought it would come easy, and we have had to get that back. You can see it makes a difference in our play.”

The Stars still are having to battle against late comebacks – as are all teams in the NHL – but they are getting that “one degree more” that Gulutzan has talked about. Rantanen made a gorgeous play to set up Jason Robertson for a power play goal early in the second period, but then the Jets pushed back and took a 2-1 lead.

Dallas had a couple of power play opportunities and didn’t take advantage, but then defenseman Nils Lundkvist tied the game late in the second when he went to the net and scored his third goal of the season. It was an earned moment for a player who battled injuries earlier in the season and is working his way back to form.

Duchene had an assist on the play and now has seven points in a five-game scoring streak. Duchene also assisted on the game-winning goal by Harley in overtime. The veteran forward made a couple of his patented spin moves and found Harley breaking to the net, and the young defenseman scored on a beautiful backhand for his fifth goal of the season, and his sixth overtime winner in regular-season play in his career.

It was just one more example of how big the “team” has to be. Oettinger made a fantastic save on Mark Scheifele to start the transition going the other way in overtime. Miro Heiskanen had an assist on the play and finished with two in the game. Roope Hintz had an assist in the game and won 73 percent of his faceoffs. Adam Erne had five hits and helped the Stars register 20-plus again.

All of that said, the Rantanen goal was a statement of sorts.

“A lot of guys probably would have shot it earlier, but the game is just slower for some of those guys, and he's one of them,” Gulutzan said. “It's hard to win in this league without star players and that's what he is. I thought it was a good hockey game with both teams playing well with some physicality to it and a high pace and then you get a goal like that from a star and that's what you need.”

It certainly can help you beat an army if you need to.

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.