Heika’s Take: Stars penalty kill has uncharacteristic night in 5-3 loss to Utah

The Stars played their 80th game of the season on Saturday.

That was about the extent of it.

Dallas lost a 5-3 game to the Utah Hockey Club, but gave a night off to Thomas Harley, Esa Lindell and Mason Marchment, and learned that their First Round playoff opponent will indeed be the Colorado Avalanche. The playoffs start next weekend at American Airlines Center, and games at Detroit (Monday) and Nashville (Wednesday) will likely be formalities just like Saturday’s.

“We got through without any injuries and the playoffs start in five days, so that’s all I care about,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said afterwards. “We want to get through these games. If we could start the playoffs tomorrow that would be my preference, but we have to play these games out and we can’t move up or down so let’s get through them. Work on a few things and make sure we’re as healthy as we can be come Saturday.”

The Stars have lost five games in a row (0-3-2) for the first time since February 2023, and that is a little concerning. But the bottom line is the team wants to use these games to look at their depth, iron out any wrinkles and make sure everybody is ready to go. Alexander Petrovic was called up from the AHL and played 17:40. Brendan Smith was inserted into the lineup and played 16:55, scoring his first goal of the year. Mikael Granlund ran point on the power play, Casey DeSmith gave Jake Oettinger the day off in goal, and several depth players saw their responsibilities increase.

“If we go where we want to go, we’re going to need a lot of people,” DeBoer said. “So, there’s been a lot of guys sitting around here that haven’t gotten games that are getting some action now, some guys in some different spots. Petrovic came up and I thought played pretty well tonight. He played some big games in the playoffs last year, so all important minutes for those guys.”

Dallas scored first, with Wyatt Johnston cashing in on the power play three minutes into the game. Utah tied it up with its own power play goal later in the first, and threatened with another power play early in the second. However, Colin Blackwell and Smith combined for a shorthanded goal to make it 2-1 Stars 32 seconds in. Then, Utah scored another power play goal to tie it up at 2-2, and the game seemed to be pretty balanced.

Then, Utah started to control the puck, came up with two more power play goals, and was able to push its record to 37-30-13. The Hockey Club will miss the postseason in its first year since moving from Arizona, but it continues to put out good efforts every night. Utah finished with a 34-24 advantage in shots on goal and a 57-44 advantage in shot attempts.

There were a couple of interesting storylines. Smith was signed as a free agent in the summer and has been a steady depth defenseman. However, the 36-year-old has played just 30 games this season and hasn’t scored a goal. So when Blackwell set him up for a nice shorthanded tally, it sparked a warm reaction from his teammates and the fans.

“Everybody enjoys scoring and you don’t want to see a bagel there on your score sheet,” said Smith, who tallied five goals in 63 games with New Jersey last season. “It's been getting a little bit tight there and it was nice that Blackwell made a great play and was able to find me. I heard some of the things he was saying, and it was very nice of him to say those because we’ve been working hard this year and it's tough to play our position. So, for him to play a great game and assist on mine, I think he set me up. Sometimes you put it on a platter like that, I’ll take it down. So, it was great for me, and I love that we connect there.”

Blackwell said he was ecstatic to see Smith score.

“I think we made a nice play,” Blackwell said. “Sam\] [Steel made a great play on his backhand just getting the puck into the neutral zone. Their D were pretty aggressive, so they were caught, and I just went to settle the puck and knew somebody was coming. Smith was in a great spot, and I am really happy for him. I thought he was awesome tonight and probably one of our best players, so kudos to him. He has been working his tail off and just for him to be ready and be the best player on the ice, that was huge for him.”

The Stars (50-24-6, 106 points) entered the game with the second best penalty kill in the league, in large part because Lindell leads the NHL in shorthanded time on ice. The fact Utah scored four times with the man advantage with Lindell getting a night of rest seemed to confirm the importance of no. 23 to the penalty kill.

“I think so. I think we did tonight,” DeBoer said when asked if that reflected the impact of Lindell’s play. “Trying some different guys there and you have to give them credit. They made some plays, but we’ve had a top penalty killing unit here for three years and that’s not a typical night for us.”

Dallas appeared to get a spark of life when Jamie Benn seemingly scored his 400th career goal in the final minute to make it 5-4. But the goal was disallowed because Benn interfered with the goalie. That virtually ended the game, and all that was left for players to present their jerseys on Fan Appreciation Night. The next time AAC will host a hockey game, there will be a lot more on the line.

“We’ve lost games a couple of different ways,” DeBoer said of the home slide at the end. “We’ve been a really good home team all year, and we just need to get through the next couple of games and be ready for that first [playoff] game.”

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.