Heika’s Take: Stars fall flat in loss to Flames

Miro Heiskanen broke his stick on the post near the end of a 7-4 loss to the Calgary Flames on Friday night and was asked what he was thinking at that moment.

“Not great,” the Stars defenseman said.

It was that kind of a night. Dallas pushed out to a 4-2 lead in the second period and seemed to have things under control. However, Calgary scored the next five goals and ran away with the game.

“I just think we got what we deserved,” said Stars coach Pete DeBoer. “I think the score was probably flattering for us.”

Calgary finished with a 60-50 advantage in shot attempts and even beat the Stars in the faceoff circle (29-23). But as good as those numbers were, they didn’t show the frustration of Dallas’ play. Coming off a run against some of the NHL’s top teams in the Avalanche, Rangers and Golden Knights, Dallas seemed poised to end a five-game home stand on a big note. And when Wyatt Johnston scored twice and Joe Pavelski and Jason Robertson added one apiece, it sure seemed like the home team was in control with a two-goal lead just nine minutes into the second period.

Johnston had a quick release on each of his goals, and that was key to beating Calgary netminder Jacob Markstrom. The 20-year-old Johnston has nine goals on the season and is tied for the team lead with Pavelski. He said he has been working on getting his shots off as quickly as possible.

“It’s something I try to work on a lot, getting pucks off fast,” Johnston said. “It has something to do with how good the `D’ are in this league, how good their sticks are and just trying to find lanes.”

The Stars did that early, but then got caught in quicksand once they got ahead. The Flames move to 8-9-3 with the win. While the start of the game shows Dallas didn’t take Calgary for granted, the finish seemed to indicate there might be a problem when Dallas is playing with a lead.

“Once you’re up two goals, you should be able to close those games out,” Johnston said. “It was not a great start to the third. That’s on us, not coming out great.”

Defenseman Jani Hakanpää added, “When you’re back a few, it kind of lights a little fire underneath you. We need to have that same mentality if we’re up a goal or up two or whatever it is.”

Calgary is now 3-8-2 when trailing after two periods, so they have done this a few times. Dallas is now 9-2-0 when leading after two, so this loss is a rare one.

“We weren’t great or we weren’t perfect by any means, but we had a chance to win that game in the third period,” DeBoer said. “We just couldn’t put it together for 20 minutes, which is disappointing.”

The Stars are 12-5-2, so they’re in a good place. But their one time lead in the Central Division has evaporated – and it did so during a five-game homestand. Dallas went 2-2-1 during this stretch at American Airlines Center and is now 5-4-1 at home. Maybe it’s good they have five of the next six on the road, where they are 7-1-1.

“We’re disappointed in 2-2-1,” DeBoer said. “We think we’re a better team than that. The Colorado game we were up. This game we were up. If we can find a way to play 60 minutes and close those two games out, you’re pretty happy with yourself. But these are all lessons you have to learn during a long season that hopefully pay off in the playoffs.”

Heiskanen finished minus-4 with no points in 25:06. That might be one reason he was so mad at the end. Still, DeBoer said, “Everybody’s got blood on their hands.”

“The funny thing is I thought Miro was really good tonight, despite what the stat sheet says,” DeBoer added. “He was one of our better players and our brighter stars out there.”

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.