Heika’s Take: Stars navigate crazy season opener, claim 5-4 win over Jets

Glen Gulutzan squeezed about a month of coaching into his first game back with the Stars on Thursday, but that can be a good thing.

Dallas took a 5-4 win over the Winnipeg Jets at Canada Life Centre after initially claiming a 5-1 lead early in the third period. The game involved a ton of line shuffling, some great penalty killing, two shorthanded goals against, and a tough decision to not seek a review on a controversial delay of game penalty late in the third.

And, honestly, that was all right with Gulutzan, who was a head coach again for the first time since 2018 and facing the defending Presidents’ Trophy Champions on the road.

“It’s a good lesson for us,” Gulutzan said. “It’s okay now, you get the two points.”

That was huge for the Stars in a battle against a significant Central Division rival with a game on Saturday coming up against equally challenging Colorado. Dallas had some solid moments early, dominated the second period and then busted things wide open early in the third period.

Gulutzan was an assistant coach in Edmonton for seven years, so while he is familiar with running the power play, he had a lot more responsibility on Thursday in mixing and matching lines and pushing buttons with a very skilled and balanced lineup. He juggled top forward Mikko Rantanen with several different linemates, and Rantanen had a goal and two assists. The big winger logged 18:48 in time on ice, had seven shot attempts, drew two penalties, and even took a roughing penalty.

“He’s playing with some bite out there,” said Jason Robertson, who had a goal, an assist and eight shots on goal. “When he gets going, he starts feeling it and gets physical and that just adds another element to his game.”

Rantanen also assisted on a goal by Nils Lundkvist, which was another great coaching decision for Gulutzan. The 25-year-old defenseman has been battling injuries and hadn’t played in a game since January, but he was one of the Stars’ best players in tallying a goal and an assist in 16:45.

“It felt awesome to be back,” Lundkvist said. “It felt like it had been forever. It was good to work with the boys and be rewarded.”

Lundkvist’s goal made it 2-1 in the second period and his assist on Wyatt Johnston’s goal made it 5-1 early in the third period. Dallas scored three goals in a span of 2:22 and seemingly had total control of the game. But that’s when the fun started.

The Stars allowed two shorthanded goals in a span of 1:16 to make it 5-3, and then Kyle Connor made it 5-4 to complete a hat trick with three minutes left in regulation. Thomas Harley was then called for a delay of game penalty and Winnipeg was given a power play, but Gulutzan felt the play happened in the neutral zone (and not the defensive zone) and also thought that Harley might have only deflected the puck into the stands and not directed it out of play. He pondered trying to find a way to challenge, but after a talk with the refs decided to kill the penalty.

“We were asking if it was challengeable, but the bigger picture there is we were okay with the timeout to settle the troops down,” Gulutzan said of the break in play. “It worked itself out.”

Indeed it did as Dallas killed its fourth penalty of the game and held on for the win.

It was an incredible experience for the players and the coach.

“More positives than negatives,” said Rantanen. “Playing with a lot of good players. It’s a deep lineup, so it doesn’t really matter who you’re on the ice with. It’s good for the coach to have that opportunity.”

And while it might have seemed like a month, on this night, it all worked out perfectly.

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.