Heika’s Take: Stars stick to winning ways, rally in third to rout Predators

Just another routine 5-1 win for the third-best team in the NHL Thursday night at American Airlines Center, right?

Sure, if you consider the 2024-25 season routine for the Dallas Stars.

The lads in Victory Green were outshot 17-5 in the first period and allowed the first goal for the third game in a row, but goalie Jake Oettinger was fantastic in holding his team in the game, and then the Stars flexed their offensive talent in a four-goal explosion third period for their seventh win in a row.

“Sometimes it's not always going to go your way, so just try to weather the storm, and then we played Dallas Stars hockey the last little bit there,” said Oettinger, who finished with 28 saves.

“Obviously, the first period was not the way we wanted to play it,” head coach Pete DeBoer said. “We knew it was going to be tough coming off a road trip. I don't think we helped ourselves with our puck management which kind of fed their rush. Once we cleaned that up, I thought over the last 40 minutes we were good."

The Stars move to 50-21-4, just four points behind Winnipeg with a game in hand for the top spot in the Central Division and the Western Conference. That’s important, because the top seed would draw a wild card team and avoid a First Round matchup with Colorado. It’s also notable because this team is finding ways to win and still is hoping to improve its level of play before the postseason begins.

“Once we start playing the right way, we can roll four lines and we’re deadly,” said Mason Marchment, who had a goal and an assist. “It’s awesome when you can trust all four going out and all pairs of defenses going out. It makes it easy.”

Oettinger was nothing short of amazing early. Nashville is going to miss the playoffs in what has been a disappointing season, but it still has some talented players in Steven Stamkos, Ryan O’Reilly and Filip Forsberg. Stamkos was able to get the game’s first goal by squeezing a puck past Oettinger four minutes into the second period. It seemed like that goal might stand up, as the Stars were mistake-prone and frustrated for much of the first 40 minutes. But then Mikael Granlund made a deft redirection off a Duchene shot/pass with just 35 seconds left in the second period, and Dallas had new life.

This has been a patient team all year, and also a strong third period team. The Stars are now 12-3-1 when tied after two periods, and Thursday was a great example of why. Marchment scored in the first minute of the final frame, then Roope Hintz finished off a great passing play from linemates Jason Robertson and Mikko Rantanen five minutes later. Wyatt Johnston ran his goal-scoring streak to six games on a beautiful tally off an equally-impressive setup from Mavrik Bourque. And rookie defenseman Lian Bichsel chipped in his third goal of the season with seven minutes left for the final score.

“I think we just have a veteran group, and knowing that games are won all different kinds of ways, and weird stuff is going to happen over the course of the year,” Oettinger said when asked how the Stars continue to rally back late in games. “So, I think for me, just trying to make one or two saves, because I know we can score pretty rapidly. I had some games this year where I’ve let in an extra goal, and we’ve ended up losing by one so just try to keep it close, let these guys do their thing and most nights we’ll get a win.”

It was a great statement for a team that can still get better. Marchment, who missed more than a month with a broken orbital bone, is starting to round into form on a line with Duchene and Granlund. Bourque is a rookie who has had a few recent scratches, but he stepped in for captain Jamie Benn, who missed the game, and showed impressive calm in a big role. Rantanen was acquired at the trade deadline, but he continues to blend right into his new team and is on a point-per-game pace since the trade. And Bichsel is showing that he can be a key part of the blue line in the playoffs, despite being just 20 years old.

That’s a lot to take in for one period.

And, truth be told, it would have been nice if the Stars didn’t have to dig that deep on home ice against the Predators. But they were coming off a week-long road trip, and they still have things they can fix in their game. Turnovers were a big problem early in the game, but the Stars made adjustments and fixed a few things. That’s a good sign there.

“I think there were some decisions we could have done better on,” Duchene said. “But then in the third you see all of the sudden we’re making plays and everything is connecting. I think sometimes you got to know when you don’t have it as a group and I thought we adjusted well. Pete let us know after the first and we knew that was coming, we deserved that.”

Dallas won its seventh game in a row. The franchise record for consecutive wins is eight (set last April), which they can match on Saturday against Pittsburgh. They won their 28th home game on Thursday. The franchise record is 29. Oettinger won his 36th game of the year. His personal best is 37. He’ll probably get a chance to tie that mark on Sunday in his native Minnesota.

So lots of fun here.

Oettinger is now 6-0-0 in his past six games with a 1.66 GAA and a .947 save percentage. He and Casey DeSmith are a huge reason why this team is on an 8-0-2 run and catching up to the Jets.

“They’re getting lots of action heading to the playoffs, so hopefully they’ve got a good feel for it,” Duchene said with a smile. “We want to limit that, obviously, but they’ve both been outstanding. It’s tough to find two guys playing as well as them in the league.”

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.