Heika’s Take: DeSmith shines as Stars exit break with 4-2 win over Devils

The Stars can rely on a couple of things that other teams sometimes struggle with.

One is a solid team structure.

The other is great goaltending.

The lads in Victory Green got both on Saturday in a 4-2 win over the New Jersey Devils in their first game back from the 4 Nations Face-Off hiatus. Casey DeSmith stopped 31 shots to give Jake Oettinger a break in returning from his role with Team USA. And the group leaned heavily on the “team” aspects, as Roope Hintz, Esa Lindell, Mikael Granlund and Thomas Harley – as well as coaches Pete DeBoer and Misha Donskov – returned with no practice time before the early puck drop in Newark.

“This is a tough game to play, after a break and on the road,” said DeBoer, who served as an assistant coach for Team Canada, which beat Team USA in the championship in Boston on Thursday. “I liked our grit, I loved our goalie, he was our best player and he needed to be. We did enough to win.”

The Stars typically win the puck possession battle, and New Jersey was dominant in those areas, posting a 33-26 advantage in shots on goal and an 81-51 edge in shot attempts, so DeBoer has a point that Dallas wouldn’t have gotten the win without DeSmith. That said, the Stars jumped out to 2-0 lead on goals by Evgenii Dadonov and Harley early in the first period, and they received a huge goal from veteran Matt Duchene in the third after the Devils closed the gap to 2-1.

So, there was some of that ol’ Stars magic mixed in with DeSmith’s handiwork.

“Casey was amazing, but I think we had it dialed in,” said Lindell, who played 22:13, including 4:22 on the penalty kill. “I feel in games like that before the break or after the break that usually the smarter team wins those games.”

The Stars were smart. They usually are. Dallas took the 2-0 lead and then fell into a shell of sorts. That was especially apparent early in the third when they rarely had any attack zone time and put very few shots on goal. But after Jack Hughes made it 2-1, leaders like Duchene and captain Jamie Benn started to push. Duchene scored his 23rd goal of the year with nine minutes left in third period, and Dallas could breathe again.

“It was a huge goal,” DeBoer said. “We’re on our heels, they make it 2-1. They’re pressing, they have all the momentum and that’s a huge goal, obviously the game-winning goal.”

Hughes scored another to tighten things up, but DeSmith was outstanding and Wyatt Johnston added a shorthanded empty-netter to seal the deal. The 33-year-old DeSmith, who signed a three-year free agent contract with the Stars in the summer, is now 8-2-0 in his past 11 games with a 2.25 GAA and .925 save percentage.

“He was unbelievable tonight,” Harley said. “We know we have two great goaltenders and whoever is in will give us a great chance to win. Case did more than that tonight.”

DeSmith said he actually appreciated the break. He played the Feb. 8 game in San Jose before the break and said he was hungry to get back and see his teammates.

“For me, it was reinvigorating,” he said. “I was pumped to get on the ice for practice, excited to see everybody, excited to get on a road trip. It’s refreshing to have it this late in the year. It’s a quick recharge and then get back after it.”

And they will have to do that again on Sunday. Dallas is now 7-1-1 in its past nine games and 36-18-2 overall (74 points, which is good for third overall in the NHL). That gives them a pretty good blueprint for how to finish the season – strong details and good goaltending.

“Our goal is to not be our best in October, but be our best at the end of the year,” DeSmith said. “It’s been kind of slow and steady, building the details in our game, and getting our game in a place where we feel really good about going into the playoffs. We’re almost there, and we just need to keep building.”

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 X @MikeHeika.