HE IS back. The all-time player for the Dallas Stars has officially announced his return.
For weeks, the Stars looked forward to Miro Heiskanen rejoining the starting lineup.
The team has missed its best defenseman in many areas of the game since he was hurt on January 4 against Colorado. Dallas managed to win despite his absence, but it was doubtful how long they could sustain their lead, particularly with the postseason race fast approaching following the All-Star break.
Thus, it appeared as though the team may end a difficult month of the season when Pete DeBoer declared Thursday morning that the 24-year-old defenseman would return for the first time in ten games against the Anaheim Ducks.
Being paired with the Stars’ highest-scoring defenseman, Heiskanen added to the feeling that it was the beginning of an even more thrilling chapter.
Thomas Harley, you have the greatest predicted goals in the league this season for a fascinating two-way combination.
Less than ten minutes remained in the third period, which saw Heiskanen score the game-tying goal and Harley score the game-winning goal in overtime to help the Stars defeat the Ducks 4-3 in overtime.
Harley revealed after the game what has been on everyone’s mind in the Stars’ locker room these past two weeks.
He’s our best player, according to Harley. Everyone is aware of that. His presence on the rink somehow makes you feel more at ease.
Heiskanen praised his new defensive partner with the same enthusiasm.
Regarding Harley, who is two years younger, he stated, “I think he played really well tonight.” He’s maneuvering and producing excellent plays, and it was pleasant to play with him.
By all means, it wasn’t the Stars’ most elegant victory, with odd sequences and poor defensive play.
Related: Roope Hintz “isn’t an All-Star every year” is a mystery to Stars coach Pete DeBoer.
However, with Harley at plus-three and Heiskanen at plus-two, Harley and Heiskanen were the two top skaters for the Stars in plus-minus. They were behind only Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski with five and four shots on goal, respectively. Harley finished the game with two points after helping Heiskanen score in the third quarter.
They’re comparable players, according to DeBoer. “Both of them have extremely good feet. I appreciate that they both prioritize defense above offense. They have a sound defensive conscience. However, they can also move up in the play and spot gaps.
Dallas appeared to be in control of the contest in the opening minutes. Tyler Seguin scored the first goal of the game at 2:22 after he had a takeaway and gave the puck to Mason Marchment, who then found Matt Duchene on the left side. With the assist, Seguin passed Dino Ciccarelli with 652 career points to take fifth place on the franchise’s all-time point chart.
After about 12 minutes, Jani Hakanpää’s point-blank attempt looked to have gone in, giving Dallas a 2-0 lead. It took over a minute for the next play stoppage to determine that it had struck the post rather than crossed the goal line. Meanwhile, Urho Vaakanainen of Anaheim scored his first goal from a difficult angle.
That was the first of three goals that Dallas scored as a result of errors. After the first, Oettinger’s missed routine stop left the score tied at one. After Hakanpää turned the play on the boards at 1:28 into the second, Troy Terry gave Anaheim its first lead of the game with a simple shot in front of the Stars’ net, finding Ryan Suter out of position.
With perseverance, the Stars defeated the Ducks 14–4 throughout that time. They managed to tie it up in yet another exciting sequence. Defender Jackson LaCombe stopped Evgenii Dadonov’s shot from going in off Sam Carrick’s skate in Anaheim. From that rebound, Craig Smith took a shot that just barely pushed goalie John Gibson’s glove above the line following more examination. Following an injury that kept him out of the previous game, Smith scored.
After Heiskanen lost a duel on the boards, Anaheim took the lead again in the third period with only 12 seconds remaining. With less than ten minutes left, he made up for it by tying the score and forcing overtime, which Harley won on a breakaway.
DeBoer remarked, “You miss 10 games, three weeks, that’s a lot of time.” “I think it was important for him to get a goal tonight because even as a world-class player, timing is always the hardest to get back.”
The Stars outshot their opponent 44–21 and prevented an Anaheim power play.
Dallas has not had t a top defensive duo all season, and their defensive depth became even more vulnerable when Heiskanen was down.
For a Stars club in dire need of offensive contributions from its defenseman—and good defensemen in general—the pairing with Harley on Thursday is thrilling and suggests the organization might not have to wait until the trade deadline for two top players.
“Our forwards score a lot, but our defensemen score two big goals tonight, which is something we’ll need moving forward,” DeBoer remarked.
