Heika’s Take: Stars flex special teams muscle, pull off 2OT win to take series lead

Special teams have both challenged and saved the Stars this year.

It paid off Wednesday night.

Dallas killed six Minnesota power plays, including two in overtime, and Wyatt Johnston scored the game-winning goal on the power play 12:10 into the second overtime as the Lads in Victory Green took a 4-3 victory in Game 3 and grabbed a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven series with the Wild.

It was a night built over 82 games as assistant coach Neil Graham has turned the Stars power play into the most dangerous in the league and assistant coach Alain Nasreddine has helped the Stars bounce back from a rocky start to become an incredibly efficient penalty killing unit. That was huge, as penalties were handed out like Easter candy in St. Paul.

“Our specialty teams have been outstanding,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “Grammer has done a heck of a job with our star players on the power play and it was a catalyst in the beginning to get us off to a great start and Nas has done a great job year after year after with the PK. You could see all of that tonight.”

Johnston set a franchise record with 27 power play goals this season, so it was no surprise he was on the doorstep tipping in the game-winner just before 1 a.m. Central time. The Stars man advantage went 3-for-8 on the night and Johnston had both a goal and an assist.

“It was great,” said Johnston, who now has four power play points in three playoff games this season. “We had some huge kills and then it’s important to capitalize when you get those [power play] chances. I just try to pitch in and do what I can to help.”

The power play players gave a huge amount of credit to the penalty killers and said they felt a certain responsibility to make sure their kills did not go in vain.

“Our PK had to make some huge kills,” Matt Duchene said, pointing to Radek Faksa breaking his stick and still gutting through a kill. “Good lord, they were unbelievable. And then once we had those two in OT, we had to step up.”

The Stars PK was led by Miro Heiskanen (9:54) and Esa Lindell (8:07) and also got big minutes from Faksa, Colin Blackwell, Sam Steel, Arttu Hyry, Tyler Myers and Thomas Harley. It was a great team effort.

“It’s a big responsibility,” said Faksa. “I felt like that’s all I did tonight. Special teams was huge all night.”

Dallas had a great start to the game, as Mikko Rantanen scored a beautiful power play goal two minutes in, and Robertson made it 2-0 a dozen minutes later with perfect placement for his third goal in three playoff games.

But then the Wild started chipping away. Marcus Johansson scored on the power play late in the first period and then Joel Eriksson Ek and Michael McCarron scored in the second to give Minnesota a 3-2 lead.

Dallas tied it up on a Duchene goal with 10 minutes left in regulation, and that bled into a tense overtime period. Minnesota got two power plays, but the Stars and Oettinger held the Wild off the board. The Stars then got a chance in the second overtime and couldn’t score. Then, Johnston was able to convert on the team’s second man advantage by deflecting a nice shot from Heiskanen.

Oettinger finished with 28 saves to secure the win in his hometown.

“It was awesome,” Oettinger told Victory Plus after the game. “I was so proud of the guys. It takes everything from everyone and so many guys stepped up. When you leave it all out there with the guys you love playing with, it’s really fun.”

The two teams don’t play again until Saturday afternoon, so they will have time to rest. That’s important, as Dallas tries to take a 3-1 lead in the series before heading back to Texas for Game 5.

“It’s draining, to say the least,” Oettinger said. “I think all of the guys need some rest. Luckily for us, we have two days before the next 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.