‘Margins Are Just Small’: Dallas Stars Power Play, Penalty Kill Carry 4-3 Win Over San Jose Sharks

DALLAS — Three of the Dallas Stars’ four goals Saturday night came on the power play. At the other end, the penalty kill stopped 5 of 6 chances for the San Jose Sharks, and Dallas held on for a 4-3 win at American Airlines Center.

Saturday was the most special-teams time Dallas has played in a game this season. The Stars’ power play entered the night at 22.9%, 8-for-35, and climbed to eighth in the NHL at 27.5%. Their penalty kill ranks first at 89.7%.

Dallas is 9-0-0 this season when it scores at least three goals and 1-5-2 when it does not. It went 3-for-5 on the power play against San Jose.

“You can’t win in the league without them,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said of special teams. “Five-on-five, it seems like the league has gotten so tight. You look at all the games, the margins are just small. The special teams certainly helped us win tonight.”

Thomas Harley Runs A Power Play That Goes 3-For-5

Thomas Harley got the call on the top unit with Miro Heiskanen out for a second straight game with an upper-body injury. Heiskanen ran the most productive power play in the NHL last season and had been averaging 3:37 a night with the man advantage, while Harley was usually getting about a minute. On Saturday, Harley played 6:23.

“We’re snapping it around pretty quick. I’m trying to distribute, but also be a shot threat from the point. Try and keep those guys honest,” Harley said. “Most of my job is passing left or passing right, and the other guys make it look good.”

Roope Hintz tied the game 1-1 at 9:16 of the first period during a 4-on-3, cleaning up a rebound after Wyatt Johnston tipped a Harley shot. Jason Robertson made it 3-1 at 16:51, snapping a cross-crease pass from Mikko Rantanen over the glove of Alex Nedeljkovic.

Johnston finished with 2 assists, both on the power play, and has 3 goals and 13 assists through 15 games.

“Just goals in a bunch of different ways on the power play,” Johnston said. “Even the ones we didn’t score on, I think we had a lot of good looks. Look to build from that.”

Harley scored the winner at 14:30 of the second period. Johnston fed him at the point, and the one-timer made it 4-2. It was Harley’s first three-point game of the season, and all three points came on the power play.

“We’re good at special teams,” Harley said.

Through 17 games, Harley has 2 goals and 9 assists. Gulutzan said Heiskanen plays the point as more of a distributor.

“He adds a little bit of a dimension,” Gulutzan said of Harley. “He likes to shoot the puck. You can see that and he takes on a little bit more of a shooter than a distributor. Miro would be the opposite, so sometimes different pieces coming in can bring different skill sets to a power play.”

On the draws, Dallas won all nine faceoffs taken on its power plays, six of them by Hintz. The Stars came in first in the NHL in faceoff percentage at 56.6% and won 39 of 56 against San Jose.

The Sharks have now allowed seven power-play goals in their last three games. Their penalty kill is at 76.5% this season.

Esa Lindell Leads A Penalty Kill That Ranks First

It took a 5-on-3 for San Jose to score on the power play. At 17:02 of the second period, Mason Marchment found Will Smith at the back door, and Smith put it into an open net to make it 4-3.

“It’s really tough,” Smith said. “Coming off the back to back, playing against a really good team, it definitely hurts. Especially when we have a good effort like that.”

Two power-play goals have gotten past Dallas at home this season, in 34 chances, and both came with the opponent two men up. San Jose went back on the power play in the third period still trailing by a goal, and the Stars killed that one, too.

“They did great, especially that kill at the end,” Gulutzan said. “Whenever you get those kills, it’s not always how many, it’s when you get a big kill. We got a big kill at the right time.”

Esa Lindell led the Stars with 7:24 of short-handed time, and Tyler Myers was next at 6:03. Sam Steel killed penalties for 4:33 after sitting out Thursday’s game in Columbus for personal reasons. Radek Faksa played 4:02 on the kill and Harley 3:34. With Heiskanen out, Lindell and Myers were expected to take on the most extra minutes on the back end.

“I think we do a good job of filling in,” Lindell said. “I think we all understand and play well together, and we like it when we get to play more.”

Jake Oettinger made 20 saves on 23 shots. He is 9-3-1 with a 1.99 goals-against average, and the 39 goals Dallas has allowed in 17 games are the fewest in the NHL.

Rantanen took two of the nine minor penalties Dallas was called for. For San Jose, captain Macklin Celebrini had a hand in all three goals and played a career-high 28:05 in a fifth straight loss. Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky still saw progress.

“I thought we did some good things again, some positives, but unfortunately come up on the losing end again,” Warsofsky said. “We’re making strides these last two games. Again, we gotta stick to the process and just continue to work and get better, and the results will come.”

The Stars are off until Thursday, when they host the Winnipeg Jets at 7 p.m. CT. Heiskanen is day-to-day, and several other players are nursing bumps and bruises, according to Gulutzan.

“To be honest with you, this little break comes at a good time,” Gulutzan said.