Heika’s Take: Problems continue to prevail as Stars fall to Hurricanes in lopsided loss

The Stars are spinning right now, and that makes settling down a little difficult.

Hoping to use a big challenge against a good Carolina team to reset, Dallas instead did everything wrong on Tuesday. The Hurricanes surged to a 5-1 lead through the first 27 minutes and eventually won 6-3 as the winless streak for the lads in Victory Green reached six games (0-3-3).

It’s a hot mess, to be sure, but it’s also just one blip in a season that has been pretty good.

“We put a lot of emphasis on this game, and we just didn’t execute,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “What gets you out of these situations we’re in with our slump and our slide is defense and discipline. You’re not going to outscore yourself and get you out of these things.”

Ironically, the game plan coming into Tuesday was defense and discipline. In losing five straight, Dallas had allowed 19 goals and faced 16 opposing power plays, so the coaching staff was preaching simplicity beforehand.

Instead, Carolina scored seven minutes in and drew four power plays in the first two periods. It was a recipe for disaster as goalie Jake Oettinger struggled and was eventually pulled after allowing five goals on 15 shots. It was the first time Gulutzan had pulled a goalie this season.

“I think it’s all of us, we’re all in a little slump,” Gulutzan said. “I think we all need to regroup and figure out what it takes to get out of these things.”

Casey DeSmith came on and stopped 16 of 17 shots to end the game, so the guess is he will start Wednesday at Washington. That could give Oettinger several days of rest before the team plays on Saturday at San Jose.

But, as Gulutzan said, goaltending is just part of the problem. Dallas was outshot 32-22 and gave up a ton of quality scoring chances. The Stars have to be able to slow the game down, defend better in its own zone, and also stop taking so many penalties. The combination of the mistakes has the Stars playing a little too chaotic and feeding into the energy of the opposition.

Carolina was getting some injured players back and they helped feed off of that. The crowd also was excited to taunt Mikko Rantanen, who chose to not sign an extension after being traded to Carolina last season, resulting in a trade to Dallas. That also put a lot of buzz in the building.

Rantanen finished with a goal and an assist, and Jason Robertson had a goal and two assists, so the offense seems fine. But the tension was a distraction for a Stars team that needed a quieter pulse.

“We’re just giving too many chances to the opponent right now,” said defenseman Miro Heiskanen. “We have to be harder in the D zone and try to get the opponents away from the puck and make them defend more. I think that’s what we’re missing right now.”

Because of its hot start, Dallas is still 25-10-8, second-best in the NHL, but the rest of the league (and the Central Division) is closing the gap. Plus, in the middle of the longest trip of the season, they need to start seeing some positivity.

“We can forget this one quickly,” Heiskanen said. “We have to be a lot better. We have to find our game again.”

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.