The Dalllas Stars got back in the win column Thursday, beating Boston 5-2. And Adam Proteau has three additional takeaways from the Stars' sixth victory of the season.
The Dallas Stars took on the Boston Bruins Thursday, and Dallas got back in the win column after losing two of their previous three games. The Stars now are 6-2-0 on the season, and here are three more takeaways from the Stars’ 5-2 win over Boston:
– Dallas once again got big games out of forwards Matt Duchene (two assists, three points) and Tyler Seguin (two assists, three points). Duchene now has four goals and nine points in eight games to lead the Stars in points, while Seguin jumped into a four-way tie for the team lead in goal-scoring with four goals and seven points in only five games.
There were other notable contributors on offense for Dallas Thursday, including Mason Marchment (two assists), Jason Robertson (with his fourth goal of the year) and Logan Stankoven, who scored his first goal of the season. But Seguin and Duchene were driving the bus on this night, and, combined with the Stars’ solid defensive effort, the Bruins were thoroughly outclassed by Dallas.
– The Bruins got the first goal of the night on a David Pastrnak marker, but this game was largely won in the second period, when the Stars got three goals – all on the power play – to put the game out of reach for Boston.
It wasn’t just that Dallas piled up the offense that made the difference in the second period, it was their defense as well, as Boston managed only six shots on net in the middle frame. The Stars put up only seven shots in the final period, but by then, they were well-ahead of the Bruins and never looked back.
Goalie Casey DeSmith was sharp in the win, turning aside 25 of 27 shots Thursday, but Dallas had five more shots on net, and they made them count. Defense wasn’t the primary reason the Stars were victorious here, but it certainly helped their cause.
– Star defenseman Miro Heiskanen led all Stars players with 24:06 of ice time, and his ice time average on the season is now 24:52 – the 10th-best average of any player in the league at this point. Behind Heiskanen was Matt Dumba (20:27) and Esa Lindell (20:15), but Heiskanen basically played four more minutes than the next-most-active Dallas player.
Heiskanen has just one assist through eight games, putting him far off his pace last season of 45 assists and 54 points in 71 games. But on this deep and balanced Stars squad, they don’t need Heiskanen to drive the bus on offense. So long as he’s his dependable self in his own zone, Heiskanen will be one of Dallas’ most valuable players, and that was true Thursday night.
(Thank you for reading this story. And feel free to join the growing Dallas Stars community on THN.com and bookmark THN's Dallas Stars site for all the latest Stars news, exclusive interviews, video content and much more.)