The injuries to Mikko Rantanen and Roope Hintz might be finally catching up to the Dallas Stars.
Dallas has played without two of its top-line forwards for nearly a month now. While the Stars managed to collect points in nine straight games out of the Olympic break, their offense has now dried up. The Stars have lost three of their last four games, including Sunday’s against the Vegas Golden Knights 3-2 after Vegas’ Reilly Smith scored the game winner with 3:38 left in regulation.
Since the 7-2 rout of the Edmonton Oilers on March 12, Dallas is averaging just 2.2 goals per game. In Sunday’s loss, the Stars posted just 16 shots on goal.
“It’s a lot of emotional hockey we’ve played,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “You can see a little bit of our offense is drying up. We’ve survived this stretch with some key offensive guys out. To win, we’ve played really, really hard. At some point, that’s a natural part of the season. But we’ve got to find it quickly here.”
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Hintz has played in just one game since the Olympics, first missing time with an illness before suffering a lower-body injury against Colorado on March 6. He is expected to return just before the playoffs. Rantanen has not played since the Olympics where he was injured while playing for Team Finland but is expected to return as soon as next week.
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The Stars had a chance to secure a playoff spot for the fifth consecutive season if they earned one point against Vegas. They could still clinch if the Utah Mammoth defeat the Los Angeles Kings later Sunday night in any fashion.
The Stars looked sloppy Sunday on the second night of a back-to-back against two contending teams. Defensive breakdowns began in the game’s opening minutes when Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb carried the puck himself through the neutral and offensive zones and scored on Casey DeSmith without being challenged by the Stars’ defense.
Dallas responded quickly to the slow start, as 22-year-old forward Wyatt Johnston set a franchise record for most power play goals in a season with his 23rd of the year. Johnston passed Minnesota North Star Dino Ciccarelli’s 22 goals scored in 1986-87 — a record nearly twice as old as Johnston is.
“The guys out there have been so good at finding me in the middle,” Johnston said. “Just trying to do what I can to help the team.”
The Stars took the lead shortly after as rookie Justin Hryckowian made a persistent play in front of the net to score his 11th goal of the season. But Dallas’ offense dried up from there.
“It’s kind of what it’s like in playoffs,” Johnston said. “You’re not going to go in and expect to win 5-4 every night.”
The Stars recorded just nine shots on net through 40 minutes and were outshot 11-3 by Vegas in the second period. Ivan Barbashev tied the game around the midway point of the second on the power play.
The Stars had a chance to regain the lead entering the second intermission when Jack Eichel committed a high-sticking penalty against Mavrik Bourque that was flagged as a double minor. However, the Stars did not register a signal shot on goal during the four-minute power play that followed. The Stars also didn’t score on a four-minute power play Saturday in Minnesota late in the game.
Both DeSmith and Golden Knights goalie Adin Hill made highlight-reel saves down the stretch. But a rebound that landed in a perfect spot for Smith to finish off the Stars late. DeSmith still made 30 saves on the night. Hill had a far easier night, finishing with 13 saves.
“He gave us a chance,” Gulutzan said of DeSmith. “Sometimes, as a coach, you read your team, and I said to [goaltending coach Jeff Reese], ‘He might have to stop 40 tonight,’ just by looking at our guys. He was the reason it was 2-2 for so long.”
Stars’ Wyatt Johnston breaks franchise single-season power play goals record
He did it with a game-tying goal against the Vegas Golden Knights as Dallas tries to clinch a playoff berth.
Stars GM Jim Nill offers injury updates for Mikko Rantanen, Roope Hintz and Radek Faksa
Rantanen is closest to a return, while the timelines for Hintz and Faksa remain more up in the air.