Heika’s Take: Stars rebound nicely, beat Blackhawks 3-1 in return from Finland

The Stars leaned on some of their best tenets on Thursday.

They have been good at avoiding losing streaks. They have been good at beating teams they should beat. And they do have exceptional depth. All of that was important in a 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks at American Airlines Center.

Dallas was looking to shake off the haze from a weeklong trip to Finland that included two losses to the Florida Panthers. They did just that and now move to 8-4-0 on the year. They have been great at gathering points against lesser teams, and they took advantage of a now 5-9-1 Blackhawks team that played at home the night before. And they had to find a replacement for injured Mason Marchment on the second line and inserted depth forward Sam Steel, who had a goal and an assist while playing beside Matt Duchene and Tyler Seguin.

“I think we played a good game,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “The score was closer than we liked. I liked a lot of the things we did considering the situation coming back from overseas. I thought we controlled that game for the most part.”

Dallas finished with a 40-26 advantage in shots on goal and a 78-47 edge in shot attempts, but Chicago backup goalie Arvid Söderblom was very good, and that forced the Stars to stay on their toes. Steel got things started when he whipped in a shot 11 minutes into the first period, and that was a nice relief for the sold out home crowd. Steel has traditionally played on the fourth line since joining the Stars last season, but he was a first round draft pick by Anaheim in 2016 and fit in well with Seguin and Duchene.

“He was kind of driving the line tonight,” said Seguin, who was set up by Steel on a second period goal. “He had a heck of a hockey game and got rewarded.”

DeBoer has said several times that depth is the team’s greatest asset, and Steel helped prove that. The 26-year-old winger had four shots on goal and was plus-2. DeBoer also shuffled a couple of lines, putting Logan Stankoven back with Jamie Benn and Wyatt Johnston, and the trio was outstanding. Stankoven had a goal and an assist and took over the NHL rookie lead in scoring with 12 points in 12 games, while Benn had six shots on goal and went 16-0 in the faceoff circle.

“I think the way we play, it translates from Line 1 to Line 4,” Steel said. “It’s pretty direct and pretty simple hockey, for the most part. It makes it easy to jump all over the lineup.”

That’s a huge key for the Stars as they try to battle a tough division and a tough schedule. The Finland trip was both a great opportunity and a great challenge, so losing both games was disappointing, but after returning to North America on Sunday, the team was able to shake off the travel and get back into a routine. They travel to Winnipeg on Friday and play the 13-1-0 Jets on Saturday, so they have to get back in a groove.

“I think we’re still recovering a little bit, it’s a long way to travel and jet lag and all that,” Steel said. “We played a lot of good hockey, but it might not have been the prettiest coming down the stretch, but we got it done.”

Jake Oettinger finished with 25 saves, including some big ones in the third period when the score was 2-1. Oettinger moves to 6-2-0 with a 2.26 GAA and .926 save percentage this season. That was huge for him after allowing six goals on 28 shots against Florida in his last start on Friday.

“Let’s be honest, he’s been really good all year for us,” DeBoer said. “He had the one game against Florida, and we didn’t help him out much in that game. I know he wanted to bounce back. He made some big saves at the right time.”

DeBoer said the team’s real focus going forward might be offering more goal support. Dallas got three goals on 40 shots, and one was an empty-netter.

“That’s a game where we created enough chances to score four or five,” DeBoer said. “We’ve got to start sticking some pucks in the net.”

The Stars will get another great challenge on Saturday as they play a Winnipeg team that leads the league in goals against average.

“Those are the games you play for,” DeBoer said. “We’ve obviously got something to prove. They’re leading the division. It’s a chance, anytime you go against a team that’s ahead of you in the standings it’s a four-point swing. We know the gravity of the game.”

And now, they feel like they’re back on a little bit of normal schedule.

“It’s starting now and it’s running until the 4 Nations break in February,” DeBoer said. “You’re not going to get any time, it’s going to be play-travel-play. I think the players like that, I think they like the routine. It allows you, as long as you stay healthy, to really build your game.”

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 (formerly Twitter) @MikeHeika.