Mikko Rantanen led the Dallas Stars with a goal and two assists in a 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks at American Airlines Center on Friday, helping extend the Stars’ point streak to nine games.
Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan commented on Rantanen’s competitive play, noting his three penalties during the game. “I asked him, I wasn’t quite sure if he was chasing the point lead or the penalty minute lead. He had a little laugh there,” Gulutzan said. “He’s competitive. He does great things and we don’t want him in the box those six minutes a night, but it happens sometimes.”
Sam Steel broke a tie midway through the third period, while Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen also scored for Dallas (19-5-5). Wyatt Johnston contributed two assists and Jake Oettinger made 16 saves.
Collin Graf scored San Jose’s only goal as the Sharks (13-13-3) lost their second straight game after alternating wins and losses in their previous eight outings. Yaroslav Askarov stopped 20 shots for San Jose.
Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky noted missed opportunities on special teams: “I mean we had chances right, two power plays there, but we didn’t get anything out of them, momentum or anything, that can’t happen in this game.”
Jeff Skinner returned to action for San Jose after missing ten games due to a lower-body injury. “I feel fine. Obviously, we would like to have a better result, but I feel fine,” Skinner said. “It’s a good team, there’s not a lot of space, couldn’t really get to the inside much. They closed the lanes up and were blocking shots. I thought as the game went on, we got better. I thought we had some looks on the power play, we just couldn’t find it when we needed it.”
Robertson opened scoring for Dallas with his 15th goal in 13 games by converting a rebound during a first-period power play.
Stars forward Justin Hryckowian said: “I think we just kind of played a mature game. We didn’t want to get into a back-and-forth game, wanted to get some [offensive] zone time and kind of low event a little bit to start. I thought we did that and just kind of built on our game as we went.”
Graf tied it early in the second period after capitalizing on a rebound near Dallas’ net. Reflecting on recent performances following Wednesday’s loss against Washington, Graf said: “I mean it can’t really get worse than the Washington game (a 7-1 loss on Wednesday), so I thought for the most part we battled with [the Stars], just a couple mistakes and didn’t get the result. But a loss is a loss, and we got to get back in the win column,” Graf said. “Obviously, things weren’t going our way the last game, and we weren’t generating a whole lot today, so I think it’s just trying to get puck to the net and sometimes the bounces are with you.”
Steel put Dallas ahead again in the third period by poking home his own rebound.
Dallas defenseman Alexander Petrovic spoke about team cohesion: “I think our structures, our systems, everyone’s thinking the same thing, everyone’s on the same page,” Petrovic said. “That helps. Everyone knows their job. So, it’s whether our legs aren’t there one night or they are just still doing the same things, maybe at a different pace. But I think guys are good at realizing maybe keep it a little more simple and just stick with it.”
Rantanen added an insurance goal late in regulation from near San Jose’s net.
Steel remarked: “We’ve been playing a lot of games. For the most part, our structure was pretty good,” Steel said. “We don’t give up too much even though they might have some [offensive] zone time. Nothing crazy dangerous. We just stuck with it and came out with [the win] in the end.”
A potential late goal by Macklin Celebrini was overturned due to an offside challenge from Dallas.
Sharks defenseman Timothy Liljegren reflected: “I thought we did some good stuff,” Liljegren said. “Obviously it was a close game there until they scored their second, thought we came out a little flat in the first but came back in the second but obviously lost in third… It was for sure better but I think it’s process and we can still play lot better.”
Notable milestones included Robertson passing Bobby Smith for sole possession of 12th place all-time goals for Stars/North Stars franchise history (186 career goals). Rantanen reached his 200th career multipoint NHL game—the fourth Finnish player ever—joining Jari Kurri (385), Teemu Selanne (382), and Aleksander Barkov (209).
