Heika's Take: Top line shines in win over Red Wings

DALLAS --One thing seems pretty clear - the Stars are much better when the top line is clicking.
While head coach Rick Bowness has been shuffling different lines searching for chemistry, he's been steadfast about sticking with Joe Pavelski and Jason Robertson flanking center Roope Hintz. There's a good reason for that. The line that came together so nicely last season has been dynamic over a pretty long stretch of games, and it can really drive a positive performance for the entire team.

On Tuesday, the line accounted for three goals (two for Robertson and one for Hintz) and led the Stars to a 5-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings in front of 17,764 at American Airlines Center on Tuesday. It was a solid night for a group that seems to be finding its stride 14 games into the season.
"There's good chemistry with that line and they're all good with the puck," Bowness said. "They're very good reading off each other and we've said all along that when Roope gets going, he's going to start scoring in bunches. That line feels good right now and there's the chemistry that they had last year."

The mix is intriguing. Pavelski, 37, played the 1,100th regular season game of his career on Tuesday and stretched his current point scoring streak to seven games (three goals, four assists). Hintz, who turns 25 on Wednesday, ran his point streak to four games. And Robertson, 22, had two goals and an assist and now sits second on the team in scoring with nine points (three goals, six assists) in eight games.
"We had good chemistry last year so with that you have that trust, that belief," Pavelski said. "I think it's playing with a couple of really smart players, competitive players, as well. So, if we're willing to work and support each other, we're going to create a lot of those chances and it's showing."

Robertson made a smart play on the first goal just before he made a change. He found Radek Faksa in the offensive zone, and Faksa then fed Ryan Suter, who snapped in his second goal of the season at the 13:33 mark of the first period. The tally was important because Dallas was dominating time of possession and needed something to show for it.
By exiting the first period with the lead, the Stars didn't have to overthink the start of the second period. Instead, Miro Heiskanen made a great play to get a puck on net, and Jamie Benn tipped it in for his third goal of the season.
Hintz then made it 3-0, and it appeared the Stars were on their way to a laugher midway through the second period. Hintz, who has struggled to convert some great scoring chances throughout the season, was able to pick a corner on this one.
It was a sign that maybe the struggling offense really is turning the corner.
Of course, nothing is ever easy for the Stars, so it wasn't that surprising when Detroit tallied two markers in the next six minutes to cut the lead to 3-2.
The period ended in that spot, despite Dallas holding a 24-15 advantage in shots on goal and a 42-33 cushion in shot attempts. The Stars were dominating scoring chances, and attack zone time, and playing about as well as they have for 40 minutes this season. So, not extending the lead was a bugaboo they've faced before.
Then, when Hintz appeared to be tripped three minutes into the third period, there was the opportunity for a letdown. The arena was grumbling, and had that "vibe" festered, well, many at American Airlines Center have seen that situation unravel before.
Instead, though, Robertson took control at a crucial moment, drove the net and slipped in a wraparound tally to restore the two-goal lead and calm the masses.

"That was huge," said Bowness. "You control what you can control. If they don't call it, you can't get rattled, you can't get upset. You've got to stay in the battle."
Dallas took its foot off the gas for the rest of the period and was outshot 15-6 in the third, so there still are lessons to learn, but the top line found a way to put things away. Robertson was stopped on some golden chances at any empty net with two minutes remaining, and that caused a little panic. But, as fate would have it, Luke Glendening won a faceoff in his own zone seconds later and Robertson chipped a puck out that went the length of the ice and trickled into the empty net.
It was sort of a reward for sticking with it.
"It was kind of a fiasco," Robertson said with a laugh. "To be honest, I feel bad I should have had the first one. Roope and Joe worked really hard to get that to me. But I think one of the (Detroit) guys made a couple of saves. So it is what it is, and just the faceoff, I just got it and I was trying to chip it out, and it went post in, but that's pretty funny."

Winning can be that way. In the immortal words of Nuke LaLoosh, "it's so much better than losing." On this night, Jake Oettinger was called on because Braden Holtby is battling a lower-body injury and Anton Khudobin had a touch of non-COVID illness. Oettinger stepped in and made 28 saves.
The 22-year-old played in 29 games last season as a rookie, but none in front of a full house. On Tuesday, he was able to feel the energy of American Airlines Center and record the 12th win of his NHL career.
"As far as the atmosphere, it was unreal. I've never really played in a full NHL arena like that with all the fans and stuff, so it was great," Oettinger said.
And as for stepping in and getting the win?
"It's just such a good group of guys, and that starts with Bowness]," Oettinger said. "I couldn't ask for a better locker room to be in as a young goalie, and the faith that he's shown in me, and he's gives me so much confidence, and I really feel like he believes in me and wants me to be in there. I can't really ask for anymore."
The Stars were pretty pleased with many parts of the game, but that doesn't mean there isn't work to do. Yes, they've strung together two wins and evened the record at 6-6-2, but a big divisional game awaits in Minnesota Thursday, and the task to get back into the playoff picture is a daily grind.
"We'll take it," Bowness said. "They got their game going and we made it a little too easy for them to come at us, so we have to tighten a couple of things up. At this point, we've battled back to get to .500 and we've got to keep getting better where we can play better than we did tonight."
They seem to have some pretty important pieces starting to fall into place in pursuit of that goal.
***Catch the Stars on their upcoming three-game homestand as they take on the St. Louis Blues this Saturday at 7 p.m. [Get your tickets now!
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika*.