In a Rare Loss, the Stars Still Show Why They're a Team To Watch

On a rare night when top-10 scorer Jason Robertson was quiet and No. 1 netminder Jake Oettinger served as backup, the Dallas Stars came up short when they dropped a 5-2 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday night at Rogers Arena.

"I think our game is better than that," said coach Pete DeBoer after the game. "I think you saw pieces of it. We played enough Dallas Stars hockey to hang around and give ourselves a chance but not enough to win."

Though the teams were separated by 26 points in the Western Conference standings and the Stars were 7-1-1 in their previous nine games, Tuesday's matchup was a tough one on paper for the Central Division-leading Stars. 

In the midst of a season-high six-game road trip which started with a 10-4 win in Buffalo before heading out west, Dallas was playing its fourth game in six nights, following a pair of wins over the Seattle Kraken. On a back-to-back, and with regular backup Scott Wedgewood injured, 25-year-old rookie Matt Murray — yes, a different Matt Murray — got the nod to make his second career NHL start. He surrendered five goals on 19 Vancouver shots.

The Stars are also dealing with two new absences in their forward group. Tyler Seguin suffered a skate cut to his leg in Buffalo last Thursday and is expected to be out for a couple of weeks, while Mason Marchment didn't dress after suffering a knee injury on Monday in Seattle.

"Those are two huge pieces to the puzzle," said Luke Glendening, who returned to the lineup after missing 11 games with an upper-body injury. "They both bring so much to our team — older guys, a veteran presence. They both work hard to score some goals. 

"It's obviously two guys we missed, but we've got to have the 'next man up' mentality."

Meanwhile, the Canucks were feeling fresh and confident. They were wrapping up a six-game homestand where they'd won their previous four games and were playing for the first time since a 5-2 win over Ottawa last Saturday.

Vancouver's positive energy was on display early, generating a 2-0 lead by the 6:00 mark of the first period on goals by Phil Di Giuseppe and Andrei Kuzmenko. The Canucks were also awarded the first three power plays of the game. Kuzmenko's goal came after an interference call against big defenseman Jani Hakanpaa at 4:27 into the opening frame.

But the Stars chipped away. They outshot Vancouver 13-8 in the second period which they dominated and outscored their hosts 2-1.

Dallas also earned major style points on both goals — pinpoint passing plays off the rush anchored by defenseman Miro Heiskanen.

Just 48 seconds into the second, Heiskanen combined with Jamie Benn to set up rookie Wyatt Johnston for a backdoor tap-in for his 18th goal of the year.

With four goals in his last six games, the 19-year-old who put up 124 points with the OHL's Windsor Spitfires last season is now making a solid case for inclusion in the Calder Trophy conversation. 

Johnston has climbed to second in rookie goal-scoring behind Seattle's Matty Beniers (19 goals). And with nine points in his last 10 games, he's getting hot at a time when many young players start to wilt under the grind of an 82-game NHL schedule. It's a promising sign.

Late in the second, Benn and Heiskanen picked up their second points of the night. They combined for a quick-up power-play goal after Murray robbed Vancouver's Elias Pettersson on a shorthanded breakaway attempt.

Touted as a future Norris Trophy candidate when he shone for the Stars during their trip to the Stanley Cup final in the 2020 playoff bubble, Heiskanen plateaued for the last two seasons.

But he's taking his game to a new level this year. Averaging a career-high 25:30 of ice time and hitting a team-high 26:45 against Vancouver on Tuesday, the 23-year-old is currently on an eight-game point streak that has seen him collect 14 points. With a career-high 56 points, he has now moved into the top 10 scorers among defensemen this season.

"I just try to skate a lot and play a lot with the puck and help the forwards to play some offense," he said about his increased production. "It's not a big change, what I've done. But maybe a little more active."

For Benn, Heiskanen's contributions come as no surprise.

"He's world class and is one of the best in league," he said. "We see that every day. I think he should be getting a lot more credit for the things that he does out there."

Benn, the Stars' 33-year-old captain, is also having a resurgent season — whether it's a response to a new voice behind the bench in DeBoer or feeling energized from playing on a line with the talented rookie Johnston. 

Now at 29 goals and 65 points in 68 games, Benn sits second in team scoring and is enjoying his best offensive season since 2017-18. 

With 32 points in 34 career games against Vancouver, the native of Victoria, B.C., seems to bring his 'A' game whenever he suits up against the Canucks. 

"Always fun to come home and play here," he said Tuesday, mentioning that he had some friends on hand at Rogers Arena to watch him play. "Obviously a big Canucks fan growing up, and love coming back here."

Entering the third down 3-2, Tuesday's game looked salvageable for the Stars. They've been one of the NHL's best road teams, with a 20-8-5 record away from the American Airlines Center going into the contest, and were a respectable 3-8-4 on the handful of occasions where they trailed going into the third period this year.

But it was not to be. Guillaume Brisebois, a 25-year-old rookie defenseman, scored his first career NHL goal to give Vancouver some insurance early in the third, and J.T. Miller closed out the scoring with his 25th goal of the year on the night of his 30th birthday.

"There's no quit in our group," said DeBoer. "I didn't think we had our best stuff tonight. I anticipated that, knowing the road we've been on here for the last week. 

"We pushed in the third. Just gave up some untimely stuff."

After squeaking into the playoffs as a wild-card team last season and nearly upsetting the Calgary Flames, Dallas has led the Central Division basically wire-to-wire this year and currently has a three-point cushion over the second-place Minnesota Wild.

The Stars will visit the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night, then close out this road trip on Saturday with their first visit to the Saddledome since that 64-save Game 7 sudden-death thriller last May.