For the second time in as many games, the Dallas Stars scored a last-minute goal to beat the St. Louis Blues. This time, it was Thomas Harley who secured a 4-3 victory at Enterprise Center.
Related: 3 Takeaways From Stars’ 1-0 Loss to Blue Jackets
Dallas entered the third period with a 3-0 lead, but unlike the 3-2 win over St. Louis on Friday (when the Stars came back from down 2-1), it was the Blues who came back, only for the Stars to squeak out another victory in the end.
Perseverance Wins Out For Dallas
After a month of losing their identity, Friday night’s win felt like the Stars team we all know and love. You could say the same about the first 43:15 of the game on Tuesday.
The shot total was even at 9-9 after 20 minutes, and it wasn’t necessarily a crisp period by either side. However, in the second period, it took just four minutes for the Stars to build a 2-0 lead.
Matt Duchene scored a tap-in on the power play, thanks to a gorgeous pass from Mikko Rantanen, at 3:20 of the middle frame, and promptly scored his second of the night, thanks to a couple of lucky bounces.
The Stars controlled the play for the rest of the period and capped it off with another power-play goal at 18:06, this time on a one-timer from Roope Hintz.
It was all roses for Dallas, until it wasn’t.
Robby Fabbri cut the Stars’ lead to 3-1 at 3:15 of the third period, and with four minutes left, the game was tied.
The way 2026 is going for the Stars, it would be expected for Dallas to hang on for a point, and see what overtime had in store. If they did end up losing in overtime, it would fit the script of what has been a tough five-week stretch.
But, like we pointed out earlier, the Stars avoided overtime in the final minute for the second straight game and left St. Louis with two points. Okay, fine. Final minute and seven seconds. Close enough.
Matt Duchene Finally Breaks Out
It’s been a tough season for Duchene, to say the least. He missed almost half of the season (25 games) with an injury and has had a hard time getting his production going, with just five goals and 12 points heading into Tuesday’s game.
Duchene’s two-goal night gives the 35-year-old three goals in his last two games, and hope that this will propel him to finish the season off strong. For the Stars to finish strong, they need him to tap into the 82-point player he was last season.
Rantanen, Jason Robertson, Wyatt Johnston, and Roope Hintz all have between 41 and 64 points. After that, the next highest point total for a forward is Sam Steel with 20.
For the last few seasons, Duchene, Mason Marchment, and Tyler Seguin were attached at the hip. Marchment is gone, and Seguin will be out with an injury until probably the playoffs, and maybe not even then. It was going to take time for him to build chemistry with new linemates, but adding the injury into the mix, that time hasn’t really been afforded.
He’s back and scoring now. Here’s to hoping that time is afforded now.
Stars Still Searching For Chemistry
In the Pete DeBoer era, the Stars were consistently a four-line team. Looking back to as recent as last season (from January on), adding Rantanen and Mikael Granlund made it that much easier to roll all 16 forwards.
Head coach Glen Gulutzan has not had the same luxury and is still trying to figure out what works best. With Seguin, Marchment, and Granlund out of the lineup, it’s clear that this team is not as deep as it once was. It’s extra challenging considering those three players are not bottom-six role players. They were key contributors, and they are still trying to fill that void.
The most noticeable change on Tuesday was Justin Hryckowian being moved to Johnston’s left wing, opposite to Rantanen. Hryckowian has had a great rookie season and deserves a look with the big boys.
Hryckowian is a hustle player. He gets into the dirty areas and puts himself in a position to make a play. It was obvious on Tuesday that whenever he had the puck, he was more concerned with getting it to his linemates than he was trying to let the play unfold naturally. Yes, Johnston and Rantanen are game-breakers, but Hryckowian needs to trust himself a little bit more and have the confidence that he is with those guys for a reason.
Duchene, Jamie Benn, and Sam Steel are a fine third line, but I think we’re going to see Gulutzan realize more and more that right now, the Stars are a two-line team. Sure, general manager Jim Nill will be working his magic and trying to add something at the deadline. However, the sooner this team leans into what it is, rather than what it’s not, the sooner they will turn back into the juggernaut it was in the first half of the season.
Four Games Left Until the Olympic Break
The insanity of the first half of the season is almost over. The Stars have four games left before a much-needed break (for most of the team) as the Olympics get underway next weekend.
The Stars will finish off their three-game road trip with games against the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday and the Utah Mammoth on Saturday.
They will have two games at home against the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues (again), before the two-and-a-half-week layoff.
