First Shift: Stars exit break looking to keep point streak rolling in St. Louis

Craig Smith is sort of the embodiment of the Stars this season.

The veteran forward signed with Dallas as a free agent in the summer after playing with Boston and Washington last season. At age 34, he has started to see his offensive production decline, and that has been especially frustrating this season. The newcomer has hit four posts, second most on the Stars and had just two goals in 28 games heading into Saturday’s contest at Nashville.

So when Smith scored with 15 seconds remaining to tie the game – eventually opening the door for a 3-2 comeback win – the feeling was he definitely deserved the good fortune.

“He’s been so snake-bitten,” teammate Matt Duchene said. “He’s hit more goal posts . . . He was awesome, he was a beast out there. He deserved to be out there at the end of the game when we made the change. He got it done for us.”

One of the noticeable attributes of Pete DeBoer’s coaching this season is the fact he rewards performance. So when Smith, who has the lowest average time on ice on the team at 10:28 per game, was on the ice for two huge shifts late in the game on Saturday, it was a statement.

“He had a tough night the other night and he kind of reset here,” DeBoer said after the win. “His old team, he played a bunch of years here, so we wanted to give him that opportunity. But he deserved to be out there in the end with the game that he played.”

Smith played the majority of his career with Predators, so he was motivated to come up big. He was on the ice with the Stars’ top forwards and he found his way to the front of the net to bang in the tying goal. Then, DeBoer kept Smith out with the fourth line, and that trio helped push the puck into the offensive zone, where Jani Hakanpää was able to spank in the game-winner in the final three seconds.

It was a moment that had built up through the game, and the entire season really.

“I hit a pipe earlier and I felt that our line was doing a lot of good things,” Smith said. “I felt all the lines were doing good things.”

Now, it might be seen as another step in Smith’s transition to the Stars. Then again, a lot of that has already taken place off the ice.

“He’s so much fun to watch,” said Hakanpää. “He’s always in a good mood, he’s buzzing around like crazy, fast, you can just tell he loves the game. In the locker room, he’s a great presence. He’s always happy. He’s got a great laugh, you get him laughing, he gets everybody going. It’s been a lot of fun playing with him and having him on our team. He’s one of those guys you hate playing against but you absolutely love when he’s on your team. He brings a lot to the table for sure.

Key Numbers

24-5-5
In the past two seasons Dallas is 24-5-5 against Central Division opponents, including 6-1-1 this season.

.611
Dallas is first in the NHL in winning percentage when trailing first at .611. St. Louis is first in the NHL when scoring first at .938.

8-0-2
Scott Wedgewood has a point in each of his last 10 decisions with an 8-0-2 record. It’s the third longest streak by a goalie in Dallas history.

He Said It

"Just scratch and claw, find a way. Obviously, it's not a good feeling. We weren't too pleased with it, with ourselves [trailing 5-2], but we were able to get on the power play and the power play came up when we needed it to. That's what you want, just give us life and momentum and go from there. It's a hard thing to do, but you have to stick with it and keep them on their heels if you get a chance and our group did a good job of that."

- Blues defenseman Justin Faulk on coming back from a 5-2 deficit in the third period to take a 7-5 win over Chicago.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.