The Dallas Stars (26-13-1) stayed hot in Philadelphia, defeating the Flyers (17-20-5) 4-1 in one of their more impressive victories of the season thus far. The Stars are on a six-game win streak and have points in eight straight games (7-0-1).
Related: Every NHL Team’s Most Underrated Prospect
After three months of waiting for the team to get their game together, all signs point to that finally being the case. In addition to the winning and point streaks, they have won four straight on the road and are reasserting themselves as Stanley Cup contenders.
Here are three takeaways from the night that was.
Dallas Gets the Lead and Keeps It
On Tuesday night in New York, the Rangers jumped out to a 3-0 lead, and the Stars had to chip away to come back and eventually win the game. On Thursday, the Stars were up 2-0 10 minutes in, 3-0 30 minutes in, and found a way to grind it out to the 4-1 finish. Many times this season, the Stars scored a goal, only for the opposition to respond with a goal minutes or seconds later. Although the Flyers outshot the Stars 28-23 and had moments where they controlled the play, it never seemed like the Flyers were going to come back and win.
Holding the lead all game gave the Stars the luxury of rolling all four lines throughout the night. No forward played less than 13:22, and Sam Steel was the only forward who played more than 17 minutes, finishing the game with 17:01 in ice time, despite that Wyatt Johnston is averaging 19:13 on the season and Mavrik Bourque is averaging 11:30.
In addition, the goal scorers are finding consistency. Roope Hintz and Johnston both scored, while Jason Robertson had two assists, with one being on Miro Heiskanen’s empty-net goal. Hintz now has four goals and five points in the last five games, Johnston has four goals and 10 points in his last seven, and Robertson has three goals and 11 points in his last seven.
Casey DeSmith Wins Fourth Straight Start
It can be difficult for a backup goaltender to stay sharp when the starter players significantly more. In the Stars’ 40th game, Casey DeSmith made only his 10th start of the season. Despite limited action, DeSmith has been rounding into form of late, and Thursday’s win was his fourth straight. In those four starts, he has a .943% save percentage and a 1.75 goals-against average. On Thursday, he made 27 saves on 28 shots.
He didn’t have to be spectacular, but he made the saves when he needed to, keeping Dallas in front and in a position to grow the lead and win the game. “What a great luxury to have,” head coach Peter DeBoer said of DeSmith. “When you can rest Jake (Oettinger), and you know you’re going to get a performance like that.”
“I have a good amount of confidence going right now, and the team is making it easy on me,” said DeSmith. “We played great tonight I thought in every end of the ice. We really dictated play.”
Mavrik Bourque is Finding His Game
Rookie Mavrik Bourque has had a tough start to his NHL career, scoring only three goals and nine points through 35 games this season. However, two of those points have come in the last two games, including the game-opening goal on Thursday.
“I’ve played some good games this year, but I knew I had to show I can play a good game back-to-back,” Bourque said. “I felt good, and I’m just trying to turn things around here and going to build on the last two games.” These last two games have easily been the best of the season for Bourque, and the Stars need it as the playoffs inch closer. “The last few games, I feel engaged more in the game early in the game. Every battle matters here, and the more battles you win, obviously, the more pucks you’re going to get. So, that’s what I’m trying to do.”
The goal he scored against the Flyers is exactly what he does when he’s feeling confident. This is exactly what the Stars need from Bourque as they continue to figure out what kind of depth they have beyond their star playmakers.
What’s Ahead for the Stars
Before the Stars’ five-game road trip started on Tuesday, I wrote an article about how important this trip was. Through two games, it has been as close to perfect as one could ask for. Down 3-0 against the Rangers, the Stars battled back to steal a 5-4 win in overtime. Against the Flyers, they jumped out to a 2-0 lead and never let go of the game.
Dallas continues their road trip on Saturday when they take on the Montreal Canadiens and on Sunday against the Ottawa Senators. While these teams aren’t juggernauts, they’ve both turned their seasons around as of late and should be another test to see if the Stars have turned their road game around for good.
