Dallas ignites in the second period, Johnston nets hat trick in commanding victory.
The Dallas Stars dispatched the Ottawa Senators handily Sunday evening, breaking out to a dominant 6-1 win at the American Airlines Center.
Dallas Stars right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) and center Wyatt Johnston (53) celebrates a goal scored by Johnston against the Ottawa Senators during the second period at the American Airlines Center. Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn ImagesThe Stars finished their incredibly successful retro weekend with a bang, turning what was a tie game in the second period into a rout by the time the happy fans streamed out of the building.
Incredibly, there was no scoring in the first period before Mavrik Borque made it 1-0 Dallas just two minutes into the second period. After Jake Sanderson tied it for Ottawa, it seemed like the Senators had momentum and were shutting the Stars down defensively.
In both meetings this season, Dallas was shut down by the Senators game plan for the first half of the game, but Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan has proven that under his leadership, the Stars are able to change their approach and find success after initially getting stymied by the opponent. This is different than under Pete DeBoer, who seemed to play a consistent strategy whether it was working or not.
Sure enough, with only seven shots on goal, Jason Robertson broke the tie and opened the floodgates for the Stars, who added a Wyatt Johnston goal to go up 3-1 by the end of the second period.
Then, in the third, Dallas exploded for 15 shots after only getting nine for the first two periods, and they were rewarded with three more goals and a hat trick from Johnston. Their power play cashed in twice and Jamie Benn added an even strength goal off a sweet pass from Mikko Rantanen, capping off a weekend full of success on and off the ice.
The Stars kicked off the post-Thanksgiving festivities with a thrilling 4-3 win over the Utah Mammoth, while also releasing their '99 retro jersey to the public on Friday to an unparalleled response from fans. Dallas wore the jersey on the ice for both of the wins over the holiday weekend.
News and notes:
Rantanen had three assists to come within one of former teammate Nathan MacKinnon and two of league leader Connor McDavid in that category.
Robertson and Johnston became the second pair of teammates with 15+ goals each so far this season, joining Kirill Kaprizov and Matt Boldy of the Minnesota Wild.
Robertson finished the month of November as the goal scoring leader and tied with MacKinnon for most points in November with 26.
Casey DeSmith continued his strong play this season, continuing to better Jake Oettinger in save percentage and goals-against average. This is a good problem to have, because Oettinger keeps winning and has plenty of room to get sharper as the season goes on, while DeSmith is providing excellent and consistent relief.
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