Heika’s Take: Stars’ top scorers break out of slumps in 5-2 win over Sharks

The weight of a scoring slump can sometimes be so big that it affects the entire team.

So when Jason Robertson whipped in a goal 15 minutes into Wednesday’s 5-2 win over the San Jose Sharks to break a nine-game drought, the feeling was electric throughout the entire roster.

“We needed those guys to get going, so the right guys scored,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said of Robertson and linemates Roope Hintz and Wyatt Johnston. “You could tell by their body language that it was a weight off their shoulders and hopefully that’s the start of some big things here. We need them.”

The entire top line had a really nice outing that could portend good things for the future. Robertson and Hintz have each struggled at times while trying to adjust to the retirement of longtime linemate Joe Pavelski, and Johnston has bounced around, sometimes playing in Pavelski’s old spot but mostly centering a line with Jamie Benn. Whatever the challenges, all three are behind their normal scoring pace – and feeling it at times.

“I think whenever you are really fighting it, it’s good to see it go in,” said Robertson. “Especially if you are a goal-scorer, but whatever the team needs me to do. Let’s hope it keeps going.”

Robertson had a goal and two assists, while Hintz and Johnston each had a goal and an assist. It was a big night for a team that has been struggling to score and is in a power play slump.

“If everyone scores, at the end of the day that helps get that momentum,” said Johnston. “It was a big goal for Robo, a big goal for us to get the first one. You can build off any goal and that’s the way the game is with the momentum swings and all that stuff. So, it was great to get the first one and continue going from that.”

The first goal was pure “Robo,” as the 25-year-old winger took a pass from defenseman Matt Dumba, turned and fired a shot that surprised Sharks goalie Mackenzie Blackwood and gave Dallas a 1-0 lead. It was big for Robertson, who entered the season averaging 1.08 points per game in his NHL career and currently is at 0.56 this season. He missed training camp after having surgery to remove a cyst in his foot in the summer, which also forced him to miss most of his offseason training.

“[Jason] Robertson couldn’t get off the couch for the entire summer, basically, missed training camp and he’s catching up,” DeBoer said. “We’ve gotta have some patience with that.”

That patience paid off on Wednesday, as the Stars needed a bounce-back game from a home loss to Anaheim on Monday. So when Dallas struggled on two early power plays, it needed something to keep the mind loose and Robertson provided.

San Jose tied things up on a shorthanded goal late in the first period, and that allowed some doubt to creep back in. But Robertson fed Hintz, who fed Johnston in transition, and Johnston made a spectacular play to get a shot in for his third goal of the season early in the second.

That 2-1 lead was extended to 3-1 on a Benn goal off a great pass from Logan Stankoven, and the Stars were then able to weather a late game push from San Jose when Hintz and Evgenii Dadonov scored empty-net goals to lock in the victory.

The Matt Duchene line was held off the board for the first time in the past five games but still created some great scoring chances, and the Mavrik Bourque line and Sam Steel line each were contributors as well.

“I think all lines played really well,” Robertson said. “Steel’s line, Bourque’s line played really well, so it’s good to see the puck going in and getting rewarded for doing the work. I am sure we are a good enough team to put up a lot of goals, and tonight our line was lucky and good enough to do that.”

Mavrik Bourque, a rookie, was coming off a great game against Anaheim, and that allowed DeBoer to move Johnston up to the top line. All of that is part of the early season shuffling a team has to do.

“I think [Mavrik] Bourque gave us a chance to do that with how he played the other night,” DeBoer said. “Mav missed training camp with an injury. We were waiting for him to catch up and get up to speed and play a game where we felt comfortable to move him, which would allow us to move Wyatt and give him a chance to play there. So, I think that was our plan coming into camp, but injuries and different situations haven’t allowed it.”

Now, there is a possibility that plan will be implemented again. The team heads on the road for games at Tampa Bay, Carolina and Chicago before Thanksgiving. That will be a test for a squad that now sits 12-6-0 in a high-flying Central Division race.

”We’re looking forward to building off of this and starting something special,” Robertson said.

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.