Sam’s Story: Stars Dominate Special Teams, Get Back to Winnings Ways vs Flyers

For the ninth time in the first 15 games, the Dallas Stars came out on top on Sunday, defeating the Philadelphia Flyers on the road 5-1. 

In those nine wins, Dallas has held a third-period lead and won by three or more goals eight times. While the points were important, it was even more vital for the Stars to return to the style of play that made them so successful before their recent two-game skid. 

Bright spot: Barely 2:30 into just his second NHL game, Stars forward Matej Blumel scored his first career goal when Tyler Seguin drove wide and found the winger streaking towards the Flyers net. Blumel finished with one goal in 10:36 of ice time. 

Special teams, special teams, special teams.

There is no doubt what the story of this afternoon’s game was. Special teams have been a strength for Dallas all season long, as they sit top five in both power-play and penalty-kill percentage. That strength was on display on Saturday. 

The Stars power play tallied two goals in only three opportunities. Joe Pavelski did what he does best, tipping a Miro Heiskanen over the shoulder of Felix Sandstrom in the second period. Jason Robertson added a third-period power-play goal after Pavelski chipped a loose puck over to Robertson, who had a yawning cage for the dunk. The goal extended Robertson’s point streak to eight games. Roope Hintz also extended his point streak to a career-high eight games with an assist. 

But hey, don’t forget about that penalty kill. The Flyers finished 0-6 on the power play, including a full minute of 5-on-3 play. Even better, the trio of Esa Lindell, Ty Dellandrea, and Luke Glendening finished off a beautiful passing play to add a shorthanded goal to the mix and give Dallas a commanding 4-1 lead. 

Lindell was one of the best skaters on the ice in the game. The defenseman assisted on Blumel's early goal and added his second goal of the season with a seeing-eye wrister from the point. He added an assist, finishing with three points, leading all skaters. 

Jake is back. 

Jake Oettinger was not great in his first game back from injury on Friday night. But on Sunday, the 23-year-old was back to form, stopping 37 of 38 Philly shots. Before Dallas was able to pull away, Oettinger needed to be spiffy, and he was. After allowing five goals on 18 shots against San Jose, this was a much-needed bounce-back performance for Oettinger, just as it was for the Stars as a whole. 

Fun stat: Dallas dominated on the faceoff dot, winning 74% of the draws in the game. 

Sam’s Three Stars 

• First Star: Matej Blumel, DAL (first career goal)
• Second Star: Esa Lindell, DAL (1 goal, 2 assists)
• Third Star: Joe Pavelski, DAL (1 goal, 2 assists)