Heika’s Take: Stars struggle out of gate in first game of Global Series

A team that is known as one of the best in the League in goal suppression, starting fast, and special teams did none of that Friday in a 6-4 loss to the Florida Panthers.

Instead, the Stars got behind early, made countless mistakes, gave up a power play goal and a shorthanded goal, and generally looked disjointed in the first contest of the two-game Global Series in Tampere, Finland. It was a disappointing night for a team that traveled a long way to honor three Finnish teammates.

“We were just totally uncompetitive in the first period,” said Stars coach Pete DeBoer. “That was the game.”

Dallas (7-3-0) had outscored teams 6-1 in first periods in the first nine games of the season, but Florida (8-3-1) scored in the first minute and never looked back. The defending Stanley Cup champions had a 13-10 edge in shots on goal, a 26-15 advantage in shot attempts and won 21 of 32 faceoffs. The Stars have said in the past that faceoff success often is an indication of battle level, and that seemed to be the case here.

They’re the Stanley Cup champions,” DeBoer said. “If you don’t show up in the first period and spot them a 3-1 lead…you can’t be that uncompetitive against a team like that.”

Stars goalie Jake Oettinger wasn’t on top of his game, allowing six goals on 28 shots, but he also saw some great shots from great players.

Florida captain Aleksander Barkov finished with a goal and three assists, while Sam Reinhart scored two goals to bump his season total up to nine.

“A lot of their chances came on sloppy breakdowns, very uncharacteristic from our guys,” said forward Jason Robertson. “They capitalized. I would say the majority of their chances are breakdowns we can fix.”

DeBoer pointed to battle level as a key target for Saturday’s game.

“The reason they won last year is they’re big, heavy, hard, and they make you work to get the puck back,” DeBoer said.

The Stars didn’t do that early. They had a chance to come back when they received some good shifts from Matt Duchene and his linemates. Tyler Seguin scored on a quick shot from behind the net that bounced in off of Florida goalie Sergei Bobrovsky, and Esa Lindell scored going to the net off a nice pass from Robertson. That made it 3-2, and Dallas earned a power play six minutes into the second period when Mavrik Bourque was able to draw a hook.

The power play looked like a great opportunity to swing momentum, but instead Barkov and Reinhart worked the penalty kill perfectly and scored a shorthanded goal to make the score 4-2. That pretty much sealed the deal.

Florida pushed the score to 6-2 in the third period before Dallas came back with goals by Bourque and Jamie Benn, but the die was cast. Even though the Stars were much more competitive in the battle areas and had better numbers in shots on goals and faceoffs, they didn’t really put a scare into the Panthers.

“I think the majority of time when you’re up by four, you kind of let up,” Robertson said. “It happens all of the time. We can’t just be happy with the third period. It’s not good enough.”

The Stars last played on Saturday in Dallas, flew to Finland on Sunday, and have been participating in all manners of team building activities to celebrate with their three Finnish teammates – Lindell, Miro Heiskanen and Roope Hintz. The trio skated out early in warm-up and were all in the starting lineup, receiving huge ovations before the national anthems were played. DeBoer said he didn’t feel any of the distractions affected the team’s slow start.

“We left our legs in the sauna? Is that what you’re saying?” DeBoer said. “They were in the sauna too, and they showed up on time to play.”

Bobrovsky raises his career record against the Stars to 19-2-2, while Oettinger falls to 1-6-1 in his career against Florida. The expectation is both teams will go to backup goalies on Saturday, pitting Casey DeSmith against Spencer Knight. DeBoer said he also would ponder some lineup changes.

But the bottom line is Dallas has to be a lot better if it hopes to salvage a split before heading home.

“Obviously, it was not the start we wanted and then it’s tough to chase. They are the champs for a reason and they made us pay for it,” Lindell said. “Tomorrow, we’ve got to be better when the puck drops.”

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @MikeHeika.