Dallas Stars Need Top Players to Show Up in Pivotal Game 2 vs. Wild – The Hockey Writers – Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars don’t have a great record in Game 1s of the playoffs, especially on home ice. That’s why I wouldn’t be overly concerned about their 6-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild on Saturday evening, but they will need to get right for Game 2 in Dallas tonight.

Teams have come back from losing the first two games at home before. The New Jersey Devils lost Games 1 and 2 at the Prudential Center against the New York Rangers in 2023 before coming back to win the series in seven games. But you don’t want to head to Minnesota down 2-0 if you’re the Stars.

The Stars did lose Game 1 of their first-round series to the Colorado Avalanche last season, and it was a similarly lopsided loss (5-1). If their top players find their game, they should level the series and head to Minnesota knotted up at 1-1.

Stars’ Forwards Were Too Quiet in Game 1

Roope Hintz is a key cog of the Stars’ engine. It hurts not having him for at least the first two games of this series, but the Stars have enough high-end talent to compensate for his absence. Unfortunately, they did not show up in the Game 1 drubbing to the Wild.

Head coach Glen Gulutzan mentioned it after the game, but the Stars did not look ready for playoff hockey. They lost plenty of one-on-one battles, and that’s what led to the Wild building a quick multi-goal lead.

What was most concerning was that the Stars couldn’t generate much offense, specifically at five-on-five. They totaled just 1.16 expected goals at five-on-five for the entire game and had just three high-danger chances. The Wild are structurally sound defensive team, but the Stars should still be able to create more offense than they did, even without Hintz.

The top line of Jason Robertson, Matt Duchene, and Mavrik Bourque was the only Stars line that had some sustained offensive zone time. They controlled 82.81 percent of the expected goals (xG%), but that’s a bit misleading when you look at the raw xG totals. They only generated 0.49 expected goals and totaled a single high-danger chance. The Stars will need more offense out of them in Game 2 to have a chance at evening the series.

It’s not just the Robertson line that needs to get going, though. The Mikko Rantanen, Wyatt Johnston, and Sam Steel combo had a rough Game 1, as they totaled an xG% of just 33.48 percent. Justin Hryckowian saw some ice time with Rantanen and Johnston in the latter part of Game 1, so perhaps Gulutzan gives them a look tonight.

Regardless, the Stars will need more from Robertson, Rantanen, and co. to even the series heading back to Minnesota. Kirill Kaprizov and the Wild’s game-breakers made a difference in Game 1, especially in the second period. If they outplay the Stars’ game-breakers again, it could be another long night in Dallas.

Oettinger Needs To Be Better, but Stars Also Need to Give Him More Support

Jake Oettinger wasn’t the reason the Stars lost Game 1, but he did not have his best outing. He gave up five goals on 28 shots and allowed 2.56 goals above expected. That came close to matching the eye test, as Oettinger should have probably stopped two of the Wild’s goals; the fifth was particularly egregious.

Oettinger had a solid regular season. There’s plenty of reason to believe he can bounce back, but this is postseason hockey. Stopping what’s expected of you is fine if you can outscore average goaltending, but the Stars will probably need Oettinger to make some saves you wouldn’t expect him to make. That’s just the reality of the playoffs. Sometimes, you need your goalie to bail you out in a game or two, especially since Hintz remains out.  

The Stars can’t just rely on Oettinger to goalie his way to a series win, though. Their offense will need to come alive, and it has to happen tonight. The Stars rebounded with a 4-3 overtime win over the Avalanche after they lost Game 1 last postseason. It’s a different year and different teams, but big performances from Robertson, Rantanen, and Johnston would go a long way for Oettinger. Yes, he needs to be better than he was in Game 1, but his teammates also need to provide him with much more support.

Win Your Battles

As my colleague Marc Sautter wrote about in his takeaways piece of the Game 1 loss, it will come down to battles for the Stars. Gulutzan said as much:

“It wasn’t fundamental breakdowns there. For me, it was battles,” Gulutzan said to reporters after the game. “It wasn’t coverage issues. We didn’t win anything. When you’re not winning anything, and you’re not winning your races, you’re not winning 50-50 (battles), you put yourself at risk for what happened. Deflections, a shot from the half-wall that goes off a guy and goes in, one from behind the net. Because you’re in vulnerable spots, because you’re not winning battles. As I said, to a man, I think we can all be better in that area.”

If the Stars win their 50/50 battles tonight, they should be able to come away with a Game 2 win. Their roster is built to win those 50/50 battles, so there’s no excuse. If they do, their offense will be more threatening, and Oettinger should get the support he needs. We’ll see how it unfolds, but I’m expecting a much better effort than what we saw in Game 1.