Stray Observations: Dallas beats Vegas 4-3 in overtime, but at a serious cost

Yay. But whelp?

I had a lot of fun with today’s paid post and I hope you did too.

I, frankly, love the Dallas vs. Vegas matchup. It’s not your typical interchange of Fast vs. Big, or Skilled vs. Physical, or Offense vs. Defense. Both teams are incredibly layered as adaptable groups, with a lot of different strengths, and weaknesses that are only exploited with the right dynamic, like with Vegas’ power play. The end result is a matchup that always seems to deliver incredibly tight, but incredibly active games. They respect each other just enough to avoid the major blunders, but not so much that they’re afraid to take risks. There’s a reason they’ve played in each other in back-to-back playoff series.

Or at least it used to be fun. Might as well dig into the biggest play of the game, which was Mark Stone’s “tripping” penalty against Miro Heiskanen. Here was, I think, the definitive angle.

It’s quite clear — which wasn’t on first watch — that Roope Hintz gets his stick into Stone’s skate. Was it dirty? Yes. Was it intentionally dirty? I don’t think so. Anyone’s first instinct when falling is to break their fall, and that’s what I think Stone’s instinct is here: breaking his fall. Is there some drive to the way Stone falls, with his head first into Heiskanen’s knee? Also yes (he’s still going for the pokecheck). But arguing over the precise mechanics of how someone breaks their fall feels a little like hair-splitting. This interpretation won’t sit well with Stars fans, and I’m not saying it’s correct, but I don’t think Stone was looking for the kneecap killshot on this one. I think he was being negligent on an unlikely sequence. Especially at the speed hockey is played. But by all means, let me know what you think in the comments. I know everyone on Twitter did.

Ultimately, none of this matters in the context of where Dallas goes from here. Heiskanen will miss some games, and we’ll find out for how long soon enough. For what it’s worth, this doctor seems optimistic it’s not season-ending.

It’s not all doom and gloom (for now). Until last night, Dallas didn’t have a win when trailing after two periods. Now they do thanks to Wyatt Johnston’s hat trick; Johnston now being the youngest player in franchise history to score a natural hat trick, narrowly beating Tyler Seguin. It’s hard to think about anything else, so let’s move onto the strays.

That Jack Eichel Shift

I know Stars fans are sick of the Jack Eichel praise because when he’s on the ice, ESPN doesn’t notice anyone else, but let’s face it: it’s well-earned. And that first goal was proof, as he dogwalked every single Star on ice.

Let’s do a quick breakdown

• 0:07 Something else you’re probably sick of hearing: Miro Heiskanen struggles against him. The fact that Eichel went straight into the corner and fended off Miro’s pokecheck was yet another example of how Eichel just wields a special power over one of the best defenders in the NHL.

• 0:24 Neither Heiskanen nor Wyatt Johnston can let that pass get through.

• 0:29 Evgenii Dadonov is simply too passive on the intercept there.

• 0:35 Thomas Harley struggled last Friday, and once again he finds his nemesis in Mark Stone.

Mavrik Bourque

Unfortunately for the rookie forward, you don’t get points for almost getting points. He’s been incredibly unlucky over the last stretch of games. In fact, were Dallas completely healthy, it’d be easy to see how he’d “play” his way out of the lineup. They’re not, and so he’s been given more rope than usual, and fortunately for him, he finally hit net instead of iron.

He and Matt Duchene have been developing some chemistry for some time, which is fitting for two natural playmakers. But Benn has been pulling his weight too, as he also set Bourque up for a prime chance in front of the net.

This article has obviously aged like spilt milk, but the thesis is holding true: Bourque is a very mature player, and with top six players, you’ll get the best out of him with patience. A lot is said about him being a ‘second-half’ player, and while I don’t find it instructive outside of his first AHL season, I do think it’s instructive for a developing player.

Power play

One shot on over three minutes of power play time. That’s all you need to know. Or maybe not. Maybe all you need to know you discovered all the way back in October. My thesis hasn’t changed. If you haven’t read it, I recommend it because why wouldn’t I take this opportunity to recommend a paywalled article?

But really, it points to something specific that is going on — not to mention, something that can theoretically be fixed. Whoever Dallas brings in ahead of the trade deadline will likely be someone that can help on the power play. So while there’s a lot to unpack, the trade deadline will tell us a lot about how the Stars believe they can fix it. This new player will likely go on the top unit, which could either be exactly what Dallas needs, or an example of them missing the forest for the trees (IMO).

Robertson-Hintz-Johnston

It was good to see this line reunited, since a) Dallas needs their top line operating again and b) Johnston and Robertson have been playing so well lately. With everything worth discussing, it’s been easy to miss the fact that the concept of a “top line” has been missing all year between the slow starts and the injuries. The Tyler Seguin line more or less played that role. As long as they’re onto something, Dallas’ depth will remain intact.

The Vegas Perspective

Somebody on my discord joked “Do you think this collision with Miro’s left knee will put Mark Stone on LTIR?”

I thought that was pretty good.

Scheduling note

If you’re new to hockey and not following Dimitri Filipovic at the PDO Podcast, you should. His analysis is first rate, and I conned my way into an appearance this Thursday. One thing we’ll likely discuss is what Dallas needs, so I’m curious to hear from you, the diligent Stars Stack reader, what you believe makes the most sense. Do they need a top six winger + a bottom six winger? A top six winger + a top four defender? A bottom six winger + bottom pair defender so they can continue to protect assets since this year’s draft will have someone good? Should Nill stick to the plan, or go bold?