After the most positive 24 hours the Dallas sports world has seen in 2025, the Dallas Stars (41-20-2) lost 5-4 to the Edmonton Oilers (37-22-4) north of the border on Saturday night. They say a win is a win, and I suppose a loss is a loss as well. However, there is some context to this one. After Wyatt Johnston, fresh off a five-year extension, scored the opening goal, the Stars essentially vanished for the next 35 minutes of the hockey game.
Related: Oilers Avoid Third Period Collapse, Defeat Stars 5-4
Down 5-1 going into the third period, the Stars scored three goals in five minutes to make it a nail-bitter, right down to the wire. Sometimes, it’s just not your night. That’s professional sports. But, to dig down and find a way to almost win after being down by four, there’s something to be said for that.
There was some good on Saturday and plenty of bad, so let’s get to our four takeaways from the night that was.
Productive Debut for Mikko Rantanen
Let’s start off with a couple of bright spots, the first being the debut of Mikko Rantanen. If you’re not a Stars fan, you might be Rantanen-ed out by now. If you are a Stars fan, you got a perfect glimpse into what this marriage could be like for eight years, and specifically for this upcoming playoff run.
Rantanen had a goal, an assist, and four shots in 21:56 of ice time. He took little time to get his first point with the Stars, with his assist being on Johnston’s opening goal at 5:48 of the first period. His goal was on the power play, which is really encouraging, considering he’s barely had any time with this unit to prepare and get familiar with his linemates.
There were moments throughout the game where he was noticeably still getting comfortable with his surroundings, which is completely understandable since this is his third team in the last two months. In the third period, however, he fit like a glove and played a huge role in the near-comeback.
Aside from what we can see on the stat-sheet, the way he quarterbacks and distributes the puck is also something to behold. As we in the media love to say, the sample size is small, but it sure looks good one game in.
When Down, the Stars are Never Out
The Stars lost to the Oilers in last year’s Western Conference Final in six games, and there’s a real possibility they could see the Oilers in this year’s playoff run as well. Yes, the Stars beat the Oilers 4-1 back on Oct. 19, but still, down 5-1 going into the third period, there has to be some sort of pushback. Even if you lose, you can’t go down without a fight. They weren’t just being pushed around on the scoreboard. The Oilers were throwing hits left, right, and center, and the Stars had no answer for it.
Starting with Rantanen’s goal at 5:06 of the third, the Stars proceeded to score three goals in four minutes, and Edmonton’s goaltender, Stuart Skinner, had to make some huge saves down the stretch to keep his team on top. Dallas needed to go down swinging, and swing they did.
The Stars have scored 139 goals since Dec. 1. No team has scored more during that span. In the third period specifically, the Stars have the fifth-most goals in the NHL with 49. They are also fourth in wins when trailing after the first period, with six. This team has a way of scoring goals when it needs to, and even though it was a little bit too late, that was evident on Saturday night.
Stars Allow a Goal After Scoring Themselves Far Too Often
On Saturday night, the Stars scored at 5:48 of the first period to give them the 1-0 lead. By 6:12, the game was tied. This is a problem that has been happening far too often, dating back to the early days of the season, but even more so recently.
On March 4 against the New Jersey Devils, the Stars scored at 6:30 of the second period to make it 2-0. At 7:09, the Devils scored to make it 2-1. On March 2 against the St. Louis Blues, the Stars opened the scoring at 1:56 of the first period, and at 3:22 the game was tied. On Feb. 28 against the Los Angeles Kings, Dallas opened the scoring at 4:21 of the first period, and by 6:44, you guessed it, the game was tied.
In all of those games, the Stars ended up the victors. That obviously wasn’t the case on Saturday. We could go through months of games, and this same issue could be brought up at least a dozen more times, but I won’t put you through that.
This team has the strong ability to find ways to win, no matter the in-game adversities that pop up. Sometimes, however, it comes back to bite them. The Stars have to find a way to hold leads for longer than just a couple of minutes. There are going to be swings in a game, of course, but giving up a lead as quickly as they got it could be increasingly problematic as the season, and the playoffs, go on.
Stars Show Little Physical Pushback
The Oilers out-hit the Stars 22-12, and in the second period specifically, the Oilers threw many big hits, including a few on Rantanen, that helped them take control of the game. In the third period, the Stars were able to retaliate by controlling the play, using their skill and speed to dominate the scoreboard. But when the Oilers asserted their physicality earlier in the game, there was little to no pushback.
The Stars are second last in the NHL in hits with 940. Dead last is the Oilers, funny enough, with 822, an issue that they addressed at the trade deadline. Head coach Pete DeBoer has spoken many times about the Stars’ philosophy to retaliate against physicality with offense and power-play success. That being said, when the playoffs come around, it’s a different ball game. The Stars have been successful in the playoffs over the last five seasons, true, but they still haven’t gotten over the hump. This may be an area of their game that they are going to have to adjust in the months ahead.
Bad Games Happen
Bad games happen, and the Stars found a way to turn it around and almost escape with at least a point. They have the most wins in the NHL since Jan. 1, the best power play, the best penalty kill, and the most goals. In short, they have been the best team in the 2025 portion of this season. What we saw on Saturday is nothing to be concerned about in a vacuum. As I said, bad games happen. Still, these are issues that have popped up all season, and they will need to be addressed before the postseason begins.
Final Notes
Roope Hintz was hit in the face with a puck at 9:15 in the second period. DeBoer said after the game that Hintz was at the hospital getting tests, and while the original reaction is that of optimism, there is no news yet.
