The Dallas Stars controlled the game from start to finish in a shutout win against the Winnipeg Jets at American Airlines Center on Thursday.

Stars lines

11 forwards/7 defensemen

• Robertson – Johnston – Rantanen
• Benn – Duchene – Blackwell
• Bäck – Hryckowian – Bourque
• Erne – Hyry

• Lindell – Heiskanen
• Harley – Lundkvist
• Bichsel – Lyubushkin  
• Capobianco

• Oettinger
• DeSmith

Scratches: Petrovic, Hughes, Steel (injured), Myers (injured), Bastian (injured), Bunting (injured), Hintz (injured).

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The best line(s) in hockey.

Okay, okay, my sarcasm sign is up. But there is still a point here. Probably. Honestly, I don’t know. I am writing and thinking at the same time, which is dangerous.

How does Adam Erne, Jamie Benn, and Arttu Hyry sound? Or perhaps Mavrik Bourque, Justin Hryckowian, and Kyle Capobianco would wet your whistle? No? Erne, Hyry, and Capobianco? That oughta do it.

Dallas has gone 11/7 in full force tonight, and rather than simply double-shifting one or two forwards like Mikko Rantanen or Wyatt Johnston, Stars coach Glen Gulutzan is throwing out every possible combination. And guess what? It’s worked. Maybe this could give Gulutzan some options down the stretch when they need to shuffle things a bit.

If nothing else, it was a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

Live game notebook

Period 1

• Stars with a great start. All over Winnipeg, forcing multiple odd-man rushes, and not giving up much. These are the types of games Dallas has found a way to allow the first goal despite playing well. Need the first tonight.
• Bad news: Dallas took the first penalty. Good news: The Jets power play was terrible and fed Dallas even more.
• Now it’s the Stars turn on the power play.
• I almost forgot how good a passer Rantanen was. I didn’t, though, because Rantanen just threaded the needle through the slot right on the tape of Matt Duchene. Duchene missed the first chance, but as Connor Hellebuyck was lazy to get back to his post, Duchene banked it off his hip and in from behind the goal line. First time in nine games Dallas scored first. Nice.

• Wow, what a pretty passing play just seconds later to make it 2-0 Dallas. Tic-tac-toe for Hyry’s second NHL goal. Did Jamie Benn make this final pass, or did it explode off his stick onto the tape of Hyry? Either way, it’s 2-0.

• Bourque has always been skilled, but we saw very little of his playmaking last season and even early this year. As he has become more confident, his passing has grown with it. He has made two elite passes to Hryckowian in the slot tonight, including a no-look, behind-the-back dish.
• Big save by Jake Oettinger up off the right shoulder from the right circle. Those are the high shots that he has been beaten on lately.
• Hellebuyck stops Wyatt Johnston off the rush and barely gets a poke on the loose puck before Jason Robertson can bury the rebound into a yawning net. No, yawning like wide open. Not yawning like sleepy. Get it together, y’all.

Stars 2, Jets 0

Period 2

• Great start to the second period as well, which is huge for this team.
• And just like that, they extended the lead to three on a nice little deflection by Erne on a point blast from Lian Bichsel. Huge goal to put the hammer on Winnipeg here. Would love to see them continue to pour it on.

• Kyle Connor absolutely drilled the far post on a one-timer from between the circles. He had Oettinger beat to the glove side. Stars caught a break.
• Robertson just threw a massive reversal hit on Elias Salomonsson in the corner. Salomonsson stayed down and looked shaken up. Love that side of Robertson when he brings it out.

• Intensity has picked up a ton here in the second. Robertson hit, Bourque throwing a hit without a stick in open ice (definitely interference)… playoff hockey going on.

• Oettinger again with another huge save on Connor, this time an against-the-grain one-timer from the low slot.

Stars 3, Jets 0

Period 3

• Instead of typing this all out, I will show you the tweet and hopefully a video… Dangerous hit to start it, followed by some soft stuff from Winnipeg. Honorable defense from Dallas. And a captain fight at center ice. Officials gave Neal Pionk and Colin Blackwell the boot, likely just to save the game from turning into a fightfest because Dallas would have absolutely gone after Pionk as soon as he touched the ice again.

“Yeah, I mean, they’re going after one of our players. I didn’t love the hit. I didn’t love it, I thought it was low. And yeah, I love the response,” Gulutzan said. “I mean, it’s our building, and guys aren’t going to come in here and push us around. So, we’ve got guys that could step up, and we had two of them do it tonight, and Jamie in a big way.”

• Oettinger played one of his best games of the season tonight. Full credit. He was out challenging shooters, clean with rebounds, and looked confident. And, of course, he tossed a few pucks from his glove to the face-off circle like he only does when he’s feeling it.
• I also give Dallas a ton of credit. They were the better team for nearly all 60 minutes tonight. Never had the big dip in the middle of the game or looked sketchy late. And dang, did they ever need this type of win right now? They wish it came sooner, but it happened before the regular season ended. That’s the important part. It should bring them together for a better final six.

FINAL: Stars 3, Jets 0

Quotable

Gulutzan on how he liked 11/7

“Sometimes, at 11/7, it just creates a little bit of buzz for the forwards. They know if they’re having a good run, you can get some extra minutes… It’s not always that you’re using [Robertson] or [Rantanen] there… Sometimes, your bottom guys get a little juice from it, too. It creates some energy.”