It’s not clear what hurt Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid more — the 5-0 lead the Stars built on his team by early in the second period or getting punched in the face by Dallas rookie Justin Hryckowian as the period expired.
Either way, the Dallas Stars pounded on the team that eliminated them from the Western Conference finals the last two seasons, winning 7-2 and extending their longest points streak in 25 years to 14 games.
“I mean, you saw it. It was a lot of animosity out there tonight,” Stars forward Jason Robertson. “I would never have thought [Hryckowian would fight McDavid]. But he did it.”
You can’t credit one part of the Stars’ game right now for all of their success, but record-holder Wyatt Johnston and the red-hot power play is probably a good place to start.
Sports Roundup
Johnston extended his league lead in power play goals to 22 with Dallas’ fourth goal of the night and tied Dino Ciccarelli’s franchise record for most power play goals in a season set nearly 20 years before the forward was born.
“It’s cool,” Johnston said. “I just try to chip in however I can. I wasn’t exactly expecting to score a lot on the power play this year. But just trying to do what I can to help the team.”
His power play goal extended Dallas’ streak to 11 consecutive games with a goal on the man advantage. Most of those have been played without two players from the top unit — Mikko Rantanen and Roope Hintz — who could be out until the playoffs with injuries. Jamie Benn added a second power play goal in the third period.
In case the 7-2 score and regular-season sweep wasn’t enough, Stars coach Glen Gulutzan, who ran Edmonton’s power play a year ago, reminded his former team what they lost. Gulutzan’s power play was the league’s best during his seven seasons in Edmonton.
Johnston’s linemate, Robertson, found him wide open in the slot, in addition to scoring two goals of his own and assisting on Benn’s power-play goal for a four-point night. Robertson’s first banked in off Oilers goaltender Tristan Jarry and his second caught the struggling Edmonton netminder off guard on a spin move.
That made the score 5-0 with more than half a game to play, but Edmonton couldn’t make a change in net — either because it had to turn around and play the second night of a back-to-back in St. Louis 24 hours later, or because Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon trucked backup Connor Ingram two nights prior. Jarry finished with 20 saves on 27 shots.
He cleaned up his act later on, and the Oilers found a pair of goals of their own later in the second. But the Stars’ five-goal lead, built by Robertson, Johnston as well as Benn and Sam Steel before that, was too large for Edmonton to overcome. Benn finished with two goals and now has six in his last five games and 14 on the year.
“Just the way he was snapping them in there was a little bit of the Jamie Benn I remember when I was here [a decade ago],” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “He’s having himself a heck of a year.”
Matt Duchene added a highlight-reel goal with a minute to play. Six Stars finished with multiple points, including Johnston and Miro Heiskanen, who had three apiece.
Stars goalie Jake Oettinger made some big saves down the stretch, totaling 29.
The two teams, who certainly aren’t the biggest fans of one another after some heated playoff series, continued to go at it until the final whistle. The Oilers took their frustration out on Hryckowian for the rare McDavid fight later in the game. He was on the receiving end of a dangerous tripping penalty by Josh Samanski and some relentless jabs from Trent Frederic after the whistle.
“I thought our guys responded really well. We’re not taking anything,” Gulutzan said. “You’re either going to take it forever, or you’re going to respond, and I liked our response.”
The Stars rookie, who hasn’t played in the last two playoff meetings, will surely be ready for Round 3 come April or May.
The Stars have shown no signs of slowing down since the Olympic break and have now won 13 of their last 14 games. They’ll seek to tie another franchise record — longest points streak (15 games) — Saturday against Detroit.
The team that holds that record? The one that won it all in ‘99.
That’s pretty good company for this group.
Just keep winning: See photos from the Dallas Stars’ huge win over the Edmonton Oilers
View Gallery
Thursday’s TV/Radio listings (March 12)
The Dallas Stars host the Edmonton Oilers for a showdown at American Airlines Center.
3 things to know about Stars-Oilers: Can Dallas keep streak going in WCF rematch?
The Stars enter Thursday’s game against their historic rival with points in 12 straight games.