Heika’s Take: Dallas outlasts Utah, hits the road on a high note

The Stars have a pretty good savings account with the hockey gods this season.

After getting “goalied” on several occasions and watching golden scoring chances bounce off iron or land frustratingly outside the net, Dallas cashed in on Saturday. Getting maybe Jake Oettinger’s best outing of the year with 33 saves, the lads in Victory Green were able to outlast the Utah Hockey Club and take a 3-2 overtime win at American Airlines Center.

Defenseman Thomas Harley pushed to the net in the three-on-three overtime and slammed in a soft pass from Matt Duchene at the 3:01 mark. It was Harley’s fifth goal of the year.

“We needed that,” said coach Pete DeBoer. “You take those points whenever you can. We played a lot of really good games this year where we didn’t get those points. That stuff tends to even out over the season. “

Duchene and Wyatt Johnston finished with two assists each, as their line with Jamie Benn is really starting to click. The trio was put together after Duchene lost linemate Mason Marchment to an upper body injury.

“Just good chemistry with the linemates,” Benn said of his goal.

That could be said with the top line, as well, as Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson and Evgenii Dadonov had some strong moments, and it also could be said of some reconstructed lines that saw strong play from rookie Oskar Bäck and Arttu Hyry.

“We go into every game wanting to be a four-line team,” said DeBoer. “Tonight, I thought our big guys were going and so I loaded them up. We won, so it was the right decision. If we lost, you could ask me about that.”

The game was a series of pushes by each side. Dallas was the better team early and took a 1-0 lead on Benn’s 10^th goal of the season just 14 seconds into the second period. Johnston and Duchene were big on that goal as well. Utah came back a minute later and made it 1-1, and then Dallas made it 2-1 midway through the second period when Bäck was able to get a goal on Hyry’s first NHL assist.

Once again though, Utah came right back. Dallas has been allowing goals quickly after scoring, and this was right in line with that. Matias Maccelli scored for the Clubbers, and that set the table for what was expected to be an intense third period.

Utah had the better chances with an 11-5 advantage in shots on goal, but Oettinger was calmly fantastic.

“I think we played a really, really good game,” said Utah coach André Tourigny. “I am really proud of the way the guys played. We closed the gap again, and that seems to be something I say every time we play [Dallas]. They are one of the toughest teams to play against in the league, and this year every time we have played them, we have gotten closer and closer. Tonight, we got a big point on the road on the end of a road trip. Too bad we lost that 3-on-3.”

Utah, which is now 17-15-7, finished with a 35-29 advantage in shots on goal for the game, and a 69-60 edge in shot attempts.

Dallas then got fresh legs in the overtime. The Stars had a 5-3 advantage in shot on goal, and the winning foray was impressive. Duchene and Johnston helped reset in the neutral zone, and then Duchene went straight to the net with the puck. The talented center was able to get Utah goalie to go blade down to make a save, and then he tapped the rebound back to the onrushing Harley.

It was a well-earned goal.

“I love it,” Harley said of playing in overtime. “It's a little different, there’s so much space, you get to just kind of roam and its man-on-man on the ice and it's good.”

Still, the key to the game was Oettinger. He moves to 19-9-1, tied for second in wins. He has a 2.35 GAA and .910 save percentage and is fashioning a very strong season.

“He’s awesome,” said Harley. “He’s a top goalie in the league. He proves it every night. He proved it tonight. We just got to put one more past the other guy.”

Dallas is 24-13-1 with a .645 points percentage who ranks fifth in the West. Just as important, they are 5-0-1 in their past six games and now head out on a season-long five-game road trip.

“It was huge,” said Benn. “We want to get two every night here, even when we aren’t playing our best. It was nice to get two before we get on the road 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 X @MikeHeika.