The Dallas Stars coughed up a late third-period lead but pulled out the 4-3 victory against the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night. I know, stop me if you’ve heard this before, right?
Jason Robertson, Nils Lundkvist, Mikko Rantanen, and Thomas Harley scored for the Stars, while Gabriel Vilardi, Cole Perfetti, and Logan Stanley scored for the Jets. Between the pipes, Jake Oettinger and Connor Hellebuyck both made 24 stops.
Related: Stars’ Thomas Harley Gets Olympic Nod, While Wyatt Johnston Comes Up Short
With the win, the Stars have now won five in a row and six of their last seven.
Here are two takeaways from the night that was at American Airlines Center on Monday night.
The Stars Love Late-Game Heroics Right Now
I don’t know what’s going on down in Texas, but the Stars can’t get enough of the extra period right now. Monday night’s win was their fifth win in a row, yes, but it was also their second overtime appearance in the last three games. In both of them, they had a lead in the third period, and in all of them, they couldn’t hang on in regulation.
That doesn’t include last Tuesday, when they squandered a three-goal lead in the third only for Harley to score with a little more than a minute left to grab the full two points. They let another three-goal lead slip away in the third period in Vegas on Thursday.
Monday against the Jets wasn’t as bad. However, Rantanen scored with less than eight minutes left. The Jets are a skilled and competitive hockey team with a lot of pride, but the Stars should be able to hold on to that lead. Nevertheless, they didn’t. But, yet again, they found a way to get the win.
Listen, I know they won the game. I’m not trying to be nitpicky, but this is happening far too often. Right now, the Stars are winning these games. There will come a time when the hockey gods flip, and they won’t.
Special Plays Win the Game Late
As a sports writer, you try your best to be as objective as you can and just present the information as it comes. But sometimes, players that you cover just do ridiculous things, and you just can’t help yourself. That happened to me twice on Monday.
The first was Rantanen’s goal to give the Stars a 3-2 lead.
The presence of mind to pull this whole sequence off is just disgusting. To start the play, Miro Heiskanen sent a crazy backhand saucer pass from his own goal line to the Jets’ blue line. Justin Hryckowian knocked the puck down and left it for Rantanen just outside of the line.
Rantanen came in with speed, corralled the puck with his skate and proceeded to undress both Luke Schenn and Hellebuyck en route to scoring a filthy, filthy goal.
The next play was Harley’s OT winner.
To start it off, Oettinger made an incredible save to keep the game alive. Then, Matt Duchene had a nifty spin-o-rama outside the Jets’ blue line, entered the zone, turned to the boards, created space and lifted a backhand pass to Harley, who was breaking in down the middle.
The pass was just behind Harley, and the Olympic-bound defenseman caught the puck with his right skate, pulled Hellebuyck out of position and backhanded the game-winner past the netminder’s glove.
The Stars are a very talented team, but they can also be frustrating at times. A lot of times. But sometimes, if they keep themselves in the game, their talent can come through. That’s what happened on Monday night.
One Game Left Before the Olympic Break
The Stars will host the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night for the final game before the Olympic break.
They will finish off February against the Seattle Kraken on the 25th and the Nashville Predators on the 28th.
