Heika’s Take: Stars pick up “bad point” in frustrating overtime loss to Sharks

The traditional question after an overtime loss in hockey is, “Good point or bad point?”

The reference is to the fact that you did get a point in the standings, but are you happy about that or upset because you feel like you should’ve had two?

On Saturday, Dallas might have picked up one of the worst points in recent history. In losing a 5-4 game to San Jose in the extra session, the Stars:

-Blew a two-goal lead both in the first and third period.

-Allowed four power play goals against.

-And lost in OT after Mikko Rantanen took an ill-advised penalty, dropping the Lads in Victory Green to 1-6 in overtime this year.

It was a rough afternoon.

“Giving up a lead in the third is certainly frustrating, six penalties is a tough recipe to win, and we’ve got to get a kill,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “Discipline is a problem when you’re taking that many stick penalties, you’ve got to move your legs, you’ve got to check with your legs.”

Dallas went through a six-game winless stretch where discipline and goaltending were key issues, but they thought they fixed that in a 4-1 win at Washington on Wednesday. Instead, the Sharks exposed several of the same problems. In drawing six power plays, the Sharks were fast, aggressive and hard to catch. In cashing in, San Jose exposed a penalty kill that has been one of the best in the league over the last two months.

“You just flush it away,” said Stars forward Jason Robertson, who had a goal and an assist. “We know what the problem is.”

Of course, they knew before the game and still slipped on a banana peel or two. Dallas took a 2-0 lead in the first period and did a ton of things right. Justin Hryckowian picked up a loose puck and streaked in for an unassisted goal seven minutes in, and then Robertson added his 26th goal of the season in the final minute to end a fantastic opening period and put Dallas in control on the road.

The Stars earned a power play to start the second period, but then gave it right back when Esa Lindell was whistled for tripping Macklin Celebrini. With Dallas’ best killer in the box, it took San Jose just 40 seconds to score. The Sharks then tied it up on a power play goal 10 minutes later, and it appeared the race was on.

San Jose kept pushing with its speedy, young roster and Dallas kept finding ways to take the lead. Kyle Capobianco made a nice read and sprinted off in transition in the final minute of the second period. The veteran defenseman flashed some of the skill he has shown in the minors, and Dallas had a 3-2 lead heading into the third period.

“They were massive goals,” Gulutzan said of pretty efforts by depth players. “We should have rallied from that. We didn’t skate enough, and we needed to against a skating team.”

Even so, Rantanen made the score 4-2 seven minutes into the third on a nifty hands play at the net, and it looked like Dallas was well on the way to victory. But Ilya Lyubushkin took a hooking penalty to lead to San Jose’s third power play goal of the game, and then the Sharks tied things up with five minutes left in regulation.

Both goalies were good at times, as each team had a chance to end the game in regulation. But it instead went to overtime, and that’s usually a bad sign for the Stars. Dallas played perfect for the first minute with possession of the puck, but then Rantanen had too much overtry, and the Sharks were in charge on a 4-on-3 man advantage with the Stars’ leading scorer in the box.

Tyler Toffoli scored his second of the game, and Dallas slipped to 26-10-9. That doesn’t sound bad, but the team is 1-4-3 in its past eight games, with some serious work to do.

“It’s certainly a trend we have to clean up,” Gulutzan said. “It’s something we’ll look at and clean up. We had it in Carolina and we had it again here.”

his 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.