Mikko Rantanen battles Conner Hellebuyck in the crease. Photo by Smiley N. Pool / Staff photographer for the Dallas Morning News
First and foremost, WHAT A GAME! Stars win their first game of the season against the reigning Directors Cup champions. The buildup to this match was intense. Two elite teams, that hate each other, for the first game of the season. What could be better?
An Ode to Hockey
Oh Hockey how we missed you. There is truly no other sport that can get our hearts pumping on a random Thursday night like you. A game with serious implications on day one, what a delight. The number one team in the conference, and number three team facing off in a heavyweight fight. A game between two Western Conference favorites is always sure to excite. This game was exciting alright!
Game Recap
Period 1: The name of the game for the Stars last year was their abysmal starts, and their ability to comeback. This was highlighted in games, where they typically overcame extraordinary deficits in the third period, and in series where we always lost the first game of the series. However, new coach, new team, new Stars. For what felt like the first time in forever, the Stars actually won the first period. It all started with Mikko “Moose” Rantanen. The 12 million dollar superstar has already proven to be worth every penny. Moose got the scoring started early, with a snapshot from near the crease. How teams continue to leave the 6’4, 220 lb, superstar open in the crease is beyond me. However, quickly after the Stars goal, Winnipeg answered with their own. Their own, newly signed (as of 10/8/25), 12 million dollar man Kyle Conner rifled a shot past Jake Oettinger to level the score at 1-1. After this tempers flared, when Gabriel Vilardi and Roope Hintz got into a fight. This fight resulted in a Winnipeg power play, which the Stars killed. Despite this minor setback Mikko Rantanen wasn’t done. He threaded a beautiful pass to an open Nils Lundkvist who slotted in a perfect wrist shot to give the Stars a 2-1 advantage at the end of the first period.
Second Period: A period of many, many penalties. Here’s a fun game, take a lap for every time I say “power play” in the next paragraph; here we go! The first penalty came against the Jets less than a minute into the period. The Stars could not convert on the power play. Not even a minute after the Jets killed the Stars’ power play they got a power play of their own. Ilya Lyubushkin was called for a holding call. The Stars successfully killed the Jets’ power play, and lasted a whole two minutes before getting their next penalty. Too many men on the ice, the penalty was served by Justin Hryckowian. After the Stars killed the Jets’ second power play of the period there was four and a half total minutes of peace before a massive brawl erupted. Mikko Rantanen roughed Vladislav Namestnikov leading to an intense brawl where 2 penalties were handed out. This resulted in a 4-4 skirmish for two minutes. Finally, the Jets gave the Stars three power plays near the end of the period. Moose drew two penalties. One a Neal Pionk Interference, and another a Alex Iafallo tripping penalty. Despite all the powerplay opportunities, there were no goals. Game still 2-1 Stars at the end of the second.
For the visual learners, here is a summary of this period:
Third Period: Here is the Stars team that we know and love. Dallas started the period off hot! Jason Roberston opened the scoring with a wrist shot ~1 minute into the period, giving Mikko Rantanen his third point of the game on the assist. Not even 40 seconds later Tyler Seguin also scored a wrist shot, assisted by Thomas Harley and Matt Duchene. However, the Stars did not stop there, Wyatt “Wjo” Johnston also scored a wrist shot 2 minutes after Seguin. This goal gave Thomas Harley, and Nils Lundkvist, each their second point of the night. The game seemed finished, Stars up 5-1, absolute domination. This wouldn’t be a Dallas Stars game without a bit of a sweat. With Josh Morrissey called for a hooking against Thomas Harley, the game looked finished. However, the Stars let up not one, BUT TWO shorthanded goals to the Jets. The first, a backhand shot from Morgan Barron, the second a wrist shot from Jets superstar Kyle Conner. This was not the last the Stars would see of Conner, as 5 minutes after his second goal he bagged his hat-trick with another wrist shot. 5-4 Stars, jets have all the momentum now. To add onto the Stars’ woes Thomas Harley got booked for a delay of game – Puck over glass – penalty. Thankfully, Dallas is great at defending power plays, as long as they’re not up a man. A couple of heroic saves from Jake “otter” Oettinger later, and the Stars emerged victorious.
Final Score: 5-4, STARS WIN!
All Stars Goals:
Moose in the first period:
Nils in the first period:
Robertson on the Power Play in the third period:
Tyler Seguin in the third period:
Wyatt Johnston for the Stars final goal:
Game Highlights: From the official NHL channel.
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Disclaimer: None of the photos or videos I used in this article are mine. They are either property of the NHL or Photo by Smiley N. Pool – Staff photographer for the Dallas Morning News. Make sure you check out and support their work.
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