Heika’s Take: Johnston’s overtime heroics help Stars oust Golden Knights

And a child shall lead them.

Okay, a “child” with 186 NHL games under his belt, but you get the picture.

Wyatt Johnston won’t turn 21 until May 14 and is the youngest player on the Stars, but the second-year “veteran” on Saturday played one of the best games of his career and one of the most important in recent Stars history. The versatile forward had 15 shot attempts, a game-high eight shots on goal and scored twice, including the game-winner in overtime to beat the Vegas Golden Knights, 3-2 at T-Mobile Arena.

The win puts Dallas down 1-2 in the best-of-seven series, which is a whole lot better than being down 0-3.

“What a player,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “He still can’t get into the casino and play cards, he’s not old enough. That’s unbelievable. It was a really incredible play by one of the next generation of stars in this league. I thought he was outstanding tonight. For a kid to be under 21 and be on that ice with that level of player and look like he did all night tonight, that’s just outstanding.”

Johnston has clearly shown his potential throughout his first two seasons. He was on the NHL All-Rookie Team last season and then led the Stars in goal scoring this season with 32, so he’s already established a baseline for what he can do, but he jumped right over that Saturday. Not only did he score the first and last goal of the game, but he created plays all over the ice in high-pressure situations.

The Golden Knights are the defending Stanley Cup champions and had suffocated the Stars in the first two games of the series. They have one of the most talented rosters in the league, and several of the Stars’ best players haven’t been able to bust through against them.

But Johnston did. He scored the all-important first goal at the 11:11 mark of the first period when he was able to score off a rebound and finally beat a red-hot Logan Thompson. The play required the intelligence to read the play, the skill to manipulate the puck, and the grit to find the space in front of the net. Johnston showed all of that.

Thompson had stopped 12 shots up to that point, and the Stars were starting to allow him to get into their heads. That’s why the goal was so big.

When asked how Dallas was able to solve Thompson, forward Tyler Seguin said, “Wyatt Johnston.”

“We’ve got a kid here that’s elite, and he won a game for us,” Seguin said. It’s one thing to be elite in the regular season at his age, but to do it in the playoffs is great.”

Johnston would also come up with the game-winner at the 16:23 mark of overtime. He skated around veteran defenseman Shea Theodore and then waited for Thompson to get down in his crouch and protect the post. In a move reminiscent of his goal in Game 7 against Seattle last year, Johnston lifted the puck over the goalie and into the back of the net.

Asked if he was trying to duplicate anything he learned from that goal, Johnston said, “I don’t know. I tried a couple low [against Thompson] and that didn’t work, so I figured I would throw one up high and lucky enough it worked.”

The fact Johnston was able to keep his focus and intensity despite the stops was key. The Stars as a team dominated the first half of the game and had a 2-0 lead on the scoreboard thanks to a Miro Heiskanen goal off a nice pass from Seguin. That was in addition to 30 shots on goal in the first 30 minutes. Still, Vegas bounced back and received goals from Brayden McNabb and Jack Eichel to tie things up and put a ton of energy into the arena and just a little doubt in the Stars’ minds.

But they somehow steadied the ship, battled through the pressure, and played a fantastic overtime.

“We knew the situations coming into Vegas, we know these guys are the defending champs from last year and we know how good they are on home ice,” said Seguin. “Our message was focusing on your next shift. I looked over at Johnny and he had a chance trying to go five-hole in overtime and he was a little frustrated, but then the next shift, you saw what he did. It’s just about bouncing back.”

Now, the series can change. Dallas has a win and a chance to tie things up on Monday in Game 4. Just as important, Vegas now has to make its adjustments following its first blemish.

“There’s no doubt we had to be the more desperate team tonight,” DeBoer said. “We wanted to come in and win a game and plant some seeds of doubt, hopefully, and the best part for me is I think our game is building here.”

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.