WINNIPEG, Manitoba — The Dallas Stars created a mismatch in Game 1 that Winnipeg simply had no answer for.
Stars coach Pete DeBoer double-shifted top-line forward Mikko Rantanen, so he played minutes with both Roope Hintz and Mikael Granlund on the first line and with Sam Steel and Evgenii Dadonov on the fourth line.
Both of Rantanen’s 5-on-5 goals in his second-period hat trick came while playing on the fourth line. His first was after an initial shot by Dadonov. His second was a deflection off a Thomas Harley shot, with his fellow forwards causing chaos in front of the net.
“That was [Adam] Lowry’s line,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said. “[Rantanen] was on the fourth line when he scored both the goals 5-on-5. [The Stars] double-shifted him. They had him on with the Steel line. That’s where he scored both goals. I thought the Lowry line did a great job against [Hintz’s line]. But at the end of the day, he went to the net.
“He’s a big man that got there with his stick, and he’s just somebody that you always have to know when he’s on the ice.”
Related:While Mikko Magic runs wild, Stars’ supporting cast shows they’re ready for duty
But here’s the problem facing the Jets: the Rantanen double-shift isn’t the only mismatch the Stars are able to create.
Also on that fourth line is Dadonov, a 20-goal scorer this season. The Stars’ new third line now features Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson, two 30-goal scorers, and Mason Marchment, who scored 20-plus.
The Stars had eight players score 20 or more goals this season, 11 score in double-digits and four pass the 30-goal mark.
Rantanen may be scoring all the goals now, but the lineup from top to bottom is filled with proven scorers. Few teams have an answer for forward depth of that caliber.
“You need it,” DeBoer said Thursday. “If you look around at the teams that are left, everybody has that luxury of depth at some position. Maybe not at forward. But you’re not one of the last eight teams standing unless you have that type of depth at one or more positions.”
Now, the Stars’ forward depth is a luxury. Mavrik Bourque, the 2024 AHL MVP who recorded 11 goals in his rookie season, has spent most of the playoffs watching from the press box. With Robertson’s return from injury, Colin Blackwell, the overtime hero in Game 2 against Colorado, joined him as a healthy scratch.
But in the first round, it was a necessity. Robertson suffered an injury in Game 82, so Blackwell and Bourque needed to step up at different times, especially when Oskar Bäck was dealing with an oblique injury.
The same was true for the Stars on the backend, as a key injury to Miro Heiskanen asked a lot of rookie defenseman Lian Bichsel and Alexander Petrovic, who spent almost the entire year in the AHL. They’ve exceeded expectations as a pair, and the Stars even have two other healthy defensemen available in Matt Dumba and Brendan Smith if they need.
“It’s a great luxury for us, for sure, but you don’t have a chance to win unless you have that,” DeBoer said. “Listen, we don’t get out of the first round unless we have it because our depth’s been tested big time with the injuries we’ve had.”
Related:5 facts that support Stars forward Mikko Rantanen’s early Conn Smythe case
But now that Heiskanen is even closer, and “will” play this series, according to DeBoer’s latest update Thursday, the Stars can continue to use their depth to perplex the Jets.
The first and fourth lines have had their bright moments over the last two games. Matt Duchene’s line with Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin brings some nostalgia for Stars fans, with a proven history between Benn and Seguin. Johnston’s new line with Marchment and Robertson may take some time to build chemistry, but all three of those players have been Dallas’ best at different points this season.
The playoff run the Stars are hoping to have will be lengthy, and different players will need to step up at different points.
With the personnel they have, they’re more than equipped for that to be the case.
“Everyone else is working hard, and I’m sure everyone in here is itching to take the load off him,” Robertson said of Rantanen.
On X/Twitter: @Lassimak
Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
