Heika’s Take: Special teams power Stars to narrow 4-3 victory over Sharks

The Stars had a “special” win at American Airlines Center on Saturday.

OK, that’s a dad joke, but you have to admit, it fits here.

Dallas scored three power play goals and killed five of six penalties in a 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks – and did it without one of their most “special” players in Miro Heiskanen. With the team’s minute leader sidelined by an upper body injury, Thomas Harley stepped in and played 6:23 on the power play and 3:34 on the penalty kill, gathering a goal and two assists and leading the Stars to the win.

“He adds a little bit of a dimension,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said on how Harley’s approach makes the power play unique. “He likes to shoot the puck. You can see that and he takes on a little bit more of a shooter than a distributor. Miro would be the opposite, so sometimes different pieces coming in can bring different skill sets to a power play.”

Harley did the same thing two years ago when Heiskanen missed the final 32 games of the regular season with a knee injury. His performance at the time helped him earn an eventual spot on Team Canada’s roster at both the 4 Nations Face-Off and the Winter Olympics and also secured a long-term contract extension. This year, Harley entered the game averaging just 1:00 a night on the man advantage to 3:37 for Heiskanen.

Now, Heiskanen quarterbacked the most prolific power play in the league last season, so he has earned those minutes. But it’s good to know Harley is there when the team needs him.

“He does a really good job up there,” said forward Wyatt Johnston. “He walks the line really well, he’s really good at shooting for tips. He was a big part of that. You saw tonight there were a lot of different ways that we can score.”

San Jose scored first, but then the Stars power play went to work. Harley took a shot from the point that Johnston tipped, and Roope Hintz cleaned up the rebound to tie the game. Six minutes later, Jamie Benn scored at even strength (the 999th point of his career) to make it 2-1, and then Jason Robertson scored on the power play for a 3-1 lead.

Harley assisted on that one, too, but it was a glorious cross-crease pass from Mikko Rantanen and a perfect shot from Robertson that were the key cogs.

San Jose made it 3-2 in the second period, but then Harley scored off a one-timer on the man advantage to make it 4-2, and that would prove to be the game-winner.

“We were snapping it around pretty quick,” Harley said. “I’m trying to distribute, but also be a shot threat from the point and try to keep the guys honest.”

Once the power play did its job, the penalty kill then had to carry a good deal of weight. San Jose scored on a 5-on-3 in the second period to make it 4-3 and also had a huge power play opportunity in the third period. However, Dallas was good on the kill.

“They did great, especially that kill at the end,” Gulutzan said. “Whenever you get those kills, it’s not always how many, it’s when you get a big kill. We got a big kill at the right time.”

Esa Lindell played 7:24 on the kill, Tyler Myers 6:03, Sam Steel 4:33 and Radek Faksa 4:02. It was a team effort in a lot of ways.

“You can’t win in the league without them,” Gulutzan said of special teams. “Five-on-five, it seems like the league has gotten so tight. You look at all the games, the margins are just small. The special teams certainly helped us win tonight.”

It was the most special teams Dallas played this season, but Harley shrugged and said, “We’re good at special teams.” After a slow start on the power play, the Stars now sit eighth at 27.5 percent. Meanwhile the penalty kill has been the best in the league for most of the season and sits first right now at 89.7 percent.

The victory pushes Dallas to 10-5-2 and helps kick off a four-game homestand off on the right foot. The Stars have four days off before meeting Winnipeg on Thursday. With Heiskanen listed as “day to day” and several other players recovering from bumps and bruises, Gulutzan said a few days of rest and practice might be good.

“To be honest with you, this little break comes at a good time,” he said.

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.