The Dallas Stars couldn’t secure a win on the busiest hockey night of the year, but there were still some positives to take away from the 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche.
Wyatt Johnston‘s unexpected absence
Wyatt Johnston missed the first game of his entire NHL career tonight due to an illness. Subsequently, Sam Steel was bumped up to the second line alongside Mikko Rantanen and Justin Hryckowian, a challenge he would quickly prove capable of handling. Steel earned the Stars’ first quality chance of the night with a decisive drive to the net, testing a cold Mackenzie Blackwood. He finished the night second on the Stars in expected goals for.
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Steel is fresh off a 4-year, $14.8 million contract signed in September, and will be a crucial part of the middle-six as Matt Duchene misses the next three months with a core muscle injury.
Surprisingly, Rantanen still enjoys facing his former team
A little over two years removed from his dominant first-round series against the Colorado Avalanche, the Stars’ leading point scorer appears to play his best hockey against his former teammates. His first shifts were highlighted by stellar puck protection in the offensive zone, before laying a bone-crunching hit on his former linemate Nathan MacKinnon.
He didn’t find the score sheet, but Rantanen looked as dominant as ever in a high-event game for Dallas.
The return of the power play
Coming into the night, the Stars’ power play sat at 1 for 8, good for 30th in the league. Even with the late subtraction of Johnston, the group has too much talent to be ranked towards the bottom of the league on the man-advantage.
Tyler Seguin slotted into Johnston’s spot on the power play, finding the back of the net on the Stars’ first chance of the night.
Devon Toews sat back too long on the play, allowing Seguin an extra second to read the play and bank it in off the scrum out front.
A healthy Seguin’s importance
It’s no secret that 34-year-old Seguin has struggled to stay healthy, but tonight was a reminder of just how important a piece he is to the team’s offense. Following his nifty power-play tally, Seguin opened up the third period with a behind-the-net feed to Hintz to make it a one-goal game.
The offense has lacked consistency early on, but Seguin will certainly play a big role in getting this Dallas offense up to speed as the 2026-27 campaign continues.
Discipline woes
Emotions were high following the second-period tilt between Roope Hintz — yes, you read that right — and MacKinnon. But the Stars seemed to cross a line in the second, getting into penalty trouble late with penalties from Kyle Capobianco and Radek Faksa.
Against an offensive group like the Avalanche, a five-on-three will rarely go uncapitalized, and Martin Nečas made the Stars pay with his second of the night to make it 3-1 for Colorado.
It’s early in the season, but the Stars will need to watch the discipline, especially once the games start meaning more.
