The Dallas Stars are off to one of the NHL’s hottest starts, but forward Matt Duchene still sees room for improvement heading into a road game against the San Jose Sharks on Thursday night.
“We win a lot of games by a goal, or even two goals, but I think we can do a better job of continuing to end games early when we’re feeling it and have that hunger,” Duchene said.
Dallas showed that desire Monday against the visiting Los Angeles Kings, scoring three goals in the third period to pull away for a 4-1 win that snapped a two-game skid.
“That’s the stingiest hockey team in the league and we just came off (a 4-0 loss to the Florida Panthers) and we’re talking about staying with it when there’s tight checking,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “I thought our guys did a really good job of just staying with it and it finally started to break through.”
After getting outshot 24-14 through the first two periods, the Stars outshot the Kings 12-4 in the final period.
“I liked how we stayed with a killer instinct to end the game,” said Duchene, who contributed a goal and an assist. “That’s something I don’t think we’ve done enough of.”
Dallas’ Mikko Rantanen and Wyatt Johnston added a goal and an assist apiece against Los Angeles after combining for no goals and one assist in the previous two losses.
“When we’re healthy, we’ve got a really deep lineup and a good four lines that can roll games,” said Rantanen, who leads Dallas with 44 points (14 goals, team-high 30 assists). “So, it’s good for our coaches, too. Roll four lines and it’s going to pay dividends at the end of the year.”
The Sharks have won three in a row and can match their longest winning streak of the season with a victory against the Stars, who beat San Jose 4-1 on Dec. 5 in Dallas.
The Sharks are 4-1-0 since, most recently toppling the visiting Calgary Flames 6-3 on Tuesday.
San Jose forward Igor Chernyshov, a second-round pick of the Sharks in the 2024 draft, made his NHL debut against Calgary and assisted on a goal by Macklin Celebrini.
“I thought he was really good,” Sharks coach Ryan Warsofsky said of Chernyshov, 20. “He’s going to be another one. He’s going to be a good player. He can make plays. He’s big. Did not look overwhelmed by the moment whatsoever.”
Celebrini, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft, had two goals and two assists against the Flames to give him 51 points (18 goals, 33 assists) on the season.
The 19-year-old needed just 34 games to reach 50 points, the fourth fewest to reach that mark by a teenager in NHL history. Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins reached 50 points in 28 games in the 2006-07 season, and Wayne Gretzky reached that mark in 32 games in both the 1979-80 and 1980-81 seasons for the Edmonton Oilers.
“He proves each and every night why he’s one of the best players in the league,” Sharks forward Barclay Goodrow said of Celebrini. “We’re all pretty happy he’s on our team.”
Goodrow logged two goals and an assist on Tuesday, ending his personal 10-game point drought.
–Field Level Media
