Stray Observations (Game 52): Jason Robertson keeps proving Bill Guerin wrong with Dallas 3-2 win over St. Louis

An early-season looking win.

Although 1-1 in their last two, Dallas has actually played well through both games. No, it hasn’t been perfect, but they’ve actually held the puck with consistency and length for a change, leading to something resembling a collective strategy rather than a dice roll involving talented players. The St. Louis Blues — the second-worst team in the league by points percentage, not to mentioned, missing key players — were theoretically perfect fodder for a quality process meeting a quality result.

I suppose it’s fitting that tonight was more of a throwback to Dallas’ early-season success. That might come across as something of a pejorative. Glen Gulutzan said it himself; “regression to the mean” and all. Maybe it is. But that’s kind of how this team operates. They lose in meaningful areas of the game but they’re never lost. Case in point, Jason Robertson. There’s no real tactic or system to prevent that level of puck control, hand-eye coordination, and quick release that the should-be Olympian scored with a minute remaining to beat the shouldn’t-be Olympian Jordan Binnington.

It remains the Stars’ MO, and it makes their success as much a novelty as it is a weapon. They are a team built by moments, and in that regard, I think we can credit everyone involved. Dallas’ best players are having some of their best seasons. Surely that’s not an accident?

Dallas will see the Blues again on Tuesday. It was a strange game, all things told. Between the lack of discipline, and comically barbaric nature of some of the shifts — I thought there were multiple shifts in the second period that turned into Kung Fu hustle in the corners — it’s one of those games that is bound to happen to every team: nothing is fluid, and everyone is swimming in motor oil. I would have liked to have seen the team that played against Boston and Columbus (a game they deserved a better fate in, IMO), but hey — muck and grind happens, and yea, two points.

The penalty kill

I’m not walking back my analysis of the PK. Not yet at least. I felt like Jake Oettinger was a little too scrambly on that first goal. Even if Jordan Kyrou hadn’t tipped that puck, it wouldn’t change my judgment of Oettinger’s movement on that play. I don’t know why Dallas seems to have this odd countersynergy between its penalty killers and its netminders, but I’d consider it some modest noise. At least for now.

The Duchene Game?

Duchene has had moments over the last couple of weeks, but certainly nothing consistent. The lack of quality linemates, the concussion, Dallas’ inability to create off the rush — it’s been a perfect storm for genuine struggles. However, the last two games have really inspired confidence, and maybe none more than Friday night.

The formula remains

I joked on the Discord that through two periods, this was the most Glen Gulutzan Dallas Stars game: tied 2-2 with both goals coming off the power play. It might come across as a little snarky, but I think at this point, I think we can call it the reality. If they win the special teams, they win the game. At some point I’ll try to do a deep dive into this phenomenon, because while I think it’s pretty intuitive, I’d be curious to study how it works league-wide. Does a positive goal differential on special teams predict success, and to what degree is it more predictive than say, even-strength goal differential?

Meandering Strays

• Not to sound off in the peanut gallery, but I really don’t understand why the line with Robertson, Hintz, and Bourque was broken up, while Sam Steel gets to stay on the line next to Wyatt Johnston and Mikko Rantanen. Coaches play for the weather, not the climate. So I get that. But I worry that some players are entering into Cody Eakin territory.

• Rantanen’s return didn’t necessarily feel like one. He’s clearly not 100 percent. But it was good seeing him on the ice.

• Ilya Lyubushkin suffered a lower body injury, which would mean Vladislav Kolyachonok time in a perfect world, but obviously that means Alex Petrovic will draw back in instead.

• Kevin Weekes ‘reported’ that Dallas and Colorado might be in on Evander Kane. I was amused by this, having pondered it myself back when Dallas was in on the Kiefer Sherwood rumors. I know fans loathe the idea, and I’m not saying I support it (I don’t), but for what Dallas claims they want to do, it makes some sense. Not much, but some.

• I really don’t understand the Blues organization. Why are players like Robert Thomas and Jordan Kyrou having their names floated out there? Brayden Schenn, Colton Parayko, Justin Faulk, Cam Fowler — these are the names you need to dangle out there for someone to overpay.