A look back on three top plays that impacted the Dallas Stars this past week.
A look back on three top plays that impacted the Dallas Stars this past week.
The Dallas Stars began last week looking to reach several milestones: clinch their first Central Division title in eight years, win the Western Conference and capture the President's Trophy.
They concluded the week by earning the division crown and could still accomplish the other two objectives with one game left to play in the regular season.
These three highlights were key to getting them in a position to grab home-ice advantage at least through the first two rounds of the postseason.
1. Sabres at Stars: Robertson's Bobblehead Goal
Last Tuesday's game against the Buffalo Sabres had plenty of storylines, including Jason Robertson Bobblehead Night.
The Stars forward came into the game as the team's leader in points (77) and ranked third in goals (27). Scoring a goal Tuesday would make his bobblehead Night complete.
Which is exactly what he did in the first period against the Sabres, who had taken a quick 1-0 lead. Robertson tied the game by tipping in a Roope Hintz wrister from distance, redirecting it at the right post.
What did Robertson think of his bobblehead?
"I think it looks great," he said after the 3-2 victory over the Sabres. "I think they did a nice job, made some adjustments. I (got) a whole couple cases of them."
Bet they looked even better after the goal and the win.
2. Kraken at Stars: Smith Breaks a team scoring drought
After dropping a 3-0 decision to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, the Stars wanted to bounce back and clinch the division Saturday as they hosted the Seattle Kraken.
The first period was scoreless until the closing seconds, when Craig Smith tipped in a long-range wrister by Robertson past Seattle goalie Philipp Grubauer with just over a second left until intermission.
Smith's tally snapped a goalless streak of over 112 minutes, an unusual occurrence for one of the top-scoring teams in the NHL.
3. Kraken at Stars: Miro Magic
Defenseman Miro Heiskanen certainly did his part to make sure Dallas didn't delay clinching the Central Division any longer than necessary.
Aside from his usual stellar defensive play during his 22:46 ice time, the Stars' third overall draft choice in 2017 tallied three points on the day, including this goal midway through the third period to clinch the 3-1 victory and the team's first division title since the 2015-16 season.
Heiskanen currently has 54 points (9-45-54), thanks to his three-point game.
"You take (Heiskanen for granted because you ask him every night to play the minutes he plays against the players he plays, have the puck on his stick all night, and you just get used to it," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said after the game. "On the special nights, you realize he's special almost every night."
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