Heika’s Take: Stars wrap up Central, continue race for West in win vs Kraken

Former Stars GM Bob Gainey was a big fan of the regular season.

The architect of two Presidents’ Trophies and five division championships believed that being the best team you could be for 82 games was the perfect preparation for a good playoff round. So as the Stars clinched their first division championship since 2016 – and just their second in the past 18 seasons – it definitely had meaning.

“It’s obviously not what we’re after, but it’s definitely a step,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said of the balance of being happy with the accomplishment, but knowing the real job awaits. “You can’t minimize the work put into doing that. Six months ago, starting in training camp in a really good division with a lot of good teams and a lot of adversity along the way. It’s a great step for our group. I’m proud of the accomplishment. We’re looking for more than that.”

And Saturday’s game was a great example of how they can get that “more.” Seattle put up a great battle and held the Stars to just four shots on goal in the first period. However, Dallas responded with 19 shots on goal in the second period and took over the game. Miro Heiskanen had a goal and two assists, Jason Robertson had a goal and an assist, and Jake Oettinger stopped 26 shots to run his record to 9-1-0 in his past 10 decisions. It was a very nice reminder of what this team has been for much of the season.

“It was a great game for us to get ready for the playoffs,” DeBoer said. “I credit Seattle for that. They played hard and didn’t give us much. We talked at the end of the first period about how this is going to be like a playoff game. The rushes dried up and they’re not giving you easy rush goals. You have to earn your goals and find your ice in the offensive zone. You’ve got to grind a little bit. They made us do that tonight, and from a coaching perspective, that’s great heading into the playoffs.”

Dallas moves to 51-21-9 (111 points) and currently leads the Western Conference. Seattle is 33-33-13 (79 points). The Kraken will miss the playoffs this season after losing to Dallas in the second round last postseason.

“Honestly, I thought we played a good game all around,” said forward Kailer Yamamoto. “Obviously, that goal at the end was a great tip. Nothing you can really do about that one, but it was a great tip. That gave them a little bit of life.”

The tip came from Stars forward Craig Smith with 2.5 seconds remaining in the first period and was another example of the team’s depth scoring. Smith now has 11 goals on the season, and Dallas ranks third in scoring at 3.62 goals per game. The lads in Victory Green then earned a 5-on-3 power play late in the second period and took a 2-0 lead when Jason Robertson notched his 29th goal of the season. Then, Heiskanen made it 3-0 midway through the third period before Yamamoto spoiled Oettinger’s shutout with around six minutes left in the game. Oettinger dug in and carried the win home, setting off a celebration from a sellout matinee crowd who really enjoyed the moment.

“It’s the first step,” Smith said after the team celebrated with division championship hats in the dressing room. “It represents the work that has been done in this room and how the group has progressed over the season. We’re proud of it.”

As they should be. Now, they have some time off before the regular season ends Wednesday against St. Louis. Depending on how the opposition plays, the Stars could have the Western Conference wrapped up – and could even possibly win the Presidents’ Trophy – so the situation is liquid. The team could allow injured players Jani Hakanpää and Evgenii Dadonov to play at least one game. It could allow Ty Dellandrea a game and let Tyler Seguin or another veteran rest. It could use Scott Wedgewood in net instead of Oettinger.

DeBoer said he is fine making those decisions.

“In a perfect world, Dadonov and Hak, we’d like to get them a game before the playoffs start,” DeBoer said. “But depending on the results of other games, we’ve still got things to play for, so the results of other games between now and Wednesday might dictate some of that.”

But whether they add other accolades for the regular season, the real goal now is to win in the playoffs.

“We want to hang more important banners than that, but proud of the guys,” Oettinger said. “Our work over the last six months has been really impressive.”

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 Twitter @MikeHeika.