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Hintz Scores Twice, Stars Complete Another Comeback Win

taylor newby
·5 min read

The best road team in the NHL came to Dallas to face the best home team in the league, and the Stars came out on top 3-1 in a highly competitive game.

Two goals from Roope Hintz and the game-winner from rookie defenseman Lian Bischel gave Dallas the edge over the division-leading Washington Capitals.

The first period was filled with intense action between the two teams who were both looking to get another quality win against a top team in the NHL. Goaltenders Jake Oettinger and Charlie Lindgren were on point and stood tall to stop several high danger chances for each team.

Near the end of the period, Dylan Strome got his second opportunity to fly by the front of Oettinger's net and get an uncontested tip of a point shot. The first was saved, but the second one found its way past the Stars netminder and gave the Capitals a 1-0 lead.

The front end second period gave the Capitals several more chances to take the lead, with Connor McMichael getting stoned by Oettinger's right pad on a power play and then just after, McMichael was denied by the crossbar after a turnover in front of the net.

Washington would rue the chances missed because Dallas got their first power play of the game soon after and capitalized on the chance. After a blocked shot by Martin Fehrvary, the Stars regrouped and fired tic-tac-toe passes to a wide open Hintz in the bumper position in tight in front of Lindgren, and Hintz elevated a shot above the shoulder to tie the game 1-1.

It was eerily similar to Saturday's game against the St. Louis Blues in that Dallas trailed 1-0 and leveled the score on a power play goal from down low in the slot. The momentum was changed after that, and Dallas started to get more chances while eliminating the offensive zone time Washington had been able to establish in the first half of the middle period.

Bischel, who had been on the ice for the Capitals goal in the first period, had played sparingly in the second period, but came on the ice at just the right time. The big man fired a wrist shot from the point that grazed off of Caps defenseman Rasmus Sandin and perfectly into the back of the net. That is Bischel's second goal in only three NHL games, which comes as a pleasant surprise given he only had three goals in over 20 AHL games so far this year.

Bischel is the first Stars defenseman to score two goals in his first three games since Derian Hatcher, and Bischel definitely has the physical game to match Hatcher too.

The Stars now found themselves with a 2-1 lead headed into the third period. The Capitals had two more opportunities on the power play in the third, but just like in the first two periods, could not capitalize on the rugged Stars penalty kill. Only the Chicago Blackhawks (surprisingly) have a better home penalty kill than Dallas, and it showed against an Ovechkin-less Washington man-advantage.

Dallas had to play without Nils Lundkvist in the third period, who was a game-time decision after battling the flu in recent days. Lundkvist was clearly not fully healthy and couldn't give it a go for the final period. That meant Bischel saw a lot more ice time down the stretch.

As time ticked down to the final television stoppage and close to when the Capitals would think about pulling Charlie Lindgren for the extra attacker, Jason Robertson found Hintz in the soft spot of the slot and Hintz made no mistake putting the dagger in the game with a bullet shot past the blocker of Lindgren for the late 3-1 lead.

The Stars shut it down when Washington added the extra attacker and finished the game off at 3-1 to put together back-to-back wins.

Three Takeaways:

  • Oettinger has been busy in the recent stretch of games, with the Capitals game being his season high sixth start in a row. Backup goaltender Casey DeSmith missed Saturday's game with the flu, and was presumably still getting back to full strength despite being available as a backup on Monday. The Stars have three more games left before a three day break for Christmas.

  • The Stars now have a power play goal in each of their past two games. Dallas is one of the worst power play teams at home and still has room for improvement when on the man advantage, especially on home ice.

  • With two assists, Jason Robertson has tallied a multi-point game in three of his last four games. It may still seem like he is struggling to get back to the form that got him over 100 points a couple of seasons ago, but Robertson still finds ways to put up points.

Next up for Dallas in the busy lead-up to the Christmas break is their fourth game in a row on home ice against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday, with an early puck drop at 6:30 p.m. CST.

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