(2024 Playoffs, Round 1) Game 3 Stray Observations: Wyatt Johnston...elite.
What a performance in Dallas' 3-2 overtime win over Vegas.
Fine. Let’s do it.
Let’s talk about Wyatt Johnston. First and foremost, a lot of credit to Jim Nill and his scouts on this one. The rest of the world wasn’t necessarily out to lunch on this one, mainly because this was the COVID draft. A lot of shortened seasons, and minimal video made sure that 2021 would always be a draft with a ton of hindsight analysis. But even in that context, this is a whopper.
Johnston already looks like the best forward on a team with Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, and Matt Duchene; players more or less in their prime. How does Seattle feel about picking Matty Beniers, right now? Or San Jose taking William Eklund? Edmonton, taking Xavier Bourgault, etc?
Unfair or not, I’m starting to wonder if Dallas didn’t get the best player in that draft. These are all fantastic players, and Johnston’s work isn’t done, but Johnston didn’t just score the goals, he embodied the Stars’ dominant performance, tallying 11 scoring chances all by himself.
Talking about Johnston does a disservice to the rest of the team, though, who all put in the work. If you’re looking for good signs, you found them basically everywhere. That Logan Thompson’s brilliant performance wasn’t enough to win the game says a lot about the group effort.
Vegas still has the 2-1 lead, with another game at home, but for now, the Stars survive.
Robertson-Hintz-Johnston
Right away getting Joe Pavelski off the top line paid off in the opening shifts. This is not necessarily a slight against Pavelski. Father Time has finally gotten the upper hand on him, which is to be expected. But he simply hasn’t been driving play, like, at all. Pavelski is a case study on in the contradiction between production and performance.
It’s not the this was a secret throughout the year. Johnston got some icetime with the Robertson and Hintz early in the season, and they looked how they looked tonight: fantastic. But I don’t think anyone was prepared for the kind of game Johnston ended up having next to those two. It was so good, you almost want him to save games like this for when he can grow a proper beard.
Duchene-Benn-Stankoven
A lot of credit goes to the other new-look top line.
Vegas had all kinds of trouble early with just the raw velocity Stankoven and Duchene in particular generate from their rush attack. Dallas definitely started to look a little winded towards the end. They didn’t generate much in the third period, but one of the few chances came from Stankoven next to a wide open net. It was an impossible pass to wrangle, but he nearly pulled it off. Don’t be surprised if they get on the board in Game 4.
Jake Oettinger
Oettinger probably wants that McNabb goal back, but I thought it was an assured performance. Thompson was such an impossible standard, it’s easy to think less of Oettinger by comparison, but I thought he stayed composed when he needed to.
Tyler Seguin: also new and improved
Seguin could have had at least a pair against a goaltender having a normal night. I thought he was one of the better forwards, an absolute dog on the forecheck, and with his old legs under him — if just for a night. I’m not too sure that new third line is capable of moving forward, but it wasn’t bad, and Seguin was a big part of that.
Leftovers: Dellandrea and Smith draw back in
I’ve been one one the last, remaining fans of Ty Dellandrea. No, I don’t think he’s a top six forward waiting in the wings, but I do think he’s bottom six material, and belongs on an NHL team. It was frankly odd to take Smith out, who had been a mainstay in favor of Evgenii Dadonov, who wasn’t, but both attacked with the kind of speed you want in a fourth line.
The Vegas perspective
For all the hooting and hollering from Stars fans, myself included, I doubt Vegas cares much about this one, save for wasting that kind of performance from their goalie. They eventually weathered Dallas’ storm, even if they couldn’t weather Johnston. Nonetheless, there’s still Game 4 in their barn.
It’ll be interesting to see how Cassidy responds. Dallas really opened up a can on Vegas, tactically. It’s hard to tell much of it was on the new forward lines, or Vegas simply caught slipping for a game, but everything that made them effective in the previous two contests seemed like an afterthought. If you’re the Knights, a game like this should be concerning. You got the matchups you wanted, and none of it seemed like enough. Unlike the previous two games, where the games were competitive, this one wasn’t. I don’t think the Stars have suddenly figured it all out, but I also don’t see many teams stopping that top six. If any team can figure it out, though, it’s definitely Vegas.
Assuming the Stars pull off a comeback, there is no way the defense can hold up for a long run playing only 5 guys.
Great summary. The whole team played great. No passengers last night. Wyatt is pure gold and could be the next Patrice Bergeron. That is, if the media dare to look at other teams outside the Eastern part of North America.
As a side point, what the hell is going on with Lundkvist? Only 5 shifts and 2:21 of ice time. He is so gone from Dallas at the end of this season. It’s either him or PDB, and PDB is going nowhere.
LOL, he is our own Petr Klima. If so, maybe he would have seen the ice in triple OT.