3 Stars: Robertson can’t check, the way she goes, & a crappy new year in loss at Blackhawks

The Dallas Stars dropped their fourth consecutive game in a 4-3 loss against the Chicago Blackhawks at United Center on Thursday.

Jason Robertson can’t check & Mikko drags them into the fight

Jason Robertson is probably not going to be selected for Team USA’s Olympic roster tomorrow morning. Crazy, I know.

But the main reason seems to be the belief that Robertson can’t play a good enough two-way game. His checking isn’t good enough to play for this team — who, by the way, could barely score goals when it mattered during 4 Nations. Robertson can score some goals. I also believe he can check and has drastically improved that part of his game (along with his skating) over the past couple of seasons. This year, specifically, he has really worked hard to battle for pucks and use his size more effectively.

Here’s a perfect example.

I could rant on and on about Robertson and Team USA. But essentially, I think sometimes people in sports can get a bit stubborn. They label players as one thing and don’t recognize when they become something different. Or, at least, they don’t recognize it quickly enough. Robertson is a pure goal scorer and needs power plays to create offense. That’s the word out on him.

Robert Tiffin of Stars Thoughts wrote a great article on Robertson and Team USA earlier today, so go check that out.

Meanwhile, Mikko Rantanen has cemented himself as a player who can drag his teammates into the fight, especially when he doesn’t like the way the game is trending. Remember Game 7 against Colorado? I know Avs fans certainly do.

Tonight, Dallas was a bit lackadaisical to start. They went down 1-0 and were being outplayed around their own net. So… Rantanen took over.

The play at the blue line, the dangle to the middle of the ice (while pushing off the defenseman because of his incredible vision and ability to find teammates), and the pitchfork backhand off the top corner of the post is in. What a move.

I will confirm this, but I strongly believe Rantanen uses a fat-toed stick for backhands like this. I will ask him on Saturday.

How worried should we be?

The Stars have not looked good out of the Christmas break. One sloppy game is one thing. Two in a row is like, ehhhhh. Three straight against lesser opponents? And even with a 10-game winning streak for one of them, both teams they played are far lesser opponents. Yet, they lost to Chicago in a shootout, fell to Buffalo 4-1 in one of the more lopsided losses of the year, and now trail the Hawks 3-1 after 40 minutes in Chicago and have created very little, while also taking four unnecessary penalties.

So, how worried should we be?

The power play has gone dry recently, the goaltending hasn’t been as elite, the penalty kill has been leaky, they are not dictating play nearly as often, and they are being pushed around a bit while turning pucks over at a much higher rate. I know it’s a small sample size. Trust me, I know. But when they start to play like this, it does bring back the questions and noise surrounding their high shooting percentage and ability to win a lot of games when being outshot and sometimes outplayed.

I’m not really worried. I don’t think this slump will stretch all the way to the break. And even if it did, they built themselves a nice lead in the standings and are in a great spot coming out of the Olympics, regardless. But I think they will snap out of it soon. This team is good. I don’t believe the early start was a fluke.

My concern is with players like Thomas Harley, Matt Duchene (a little less so because he is still pretty fresh off a serious injury), Esa Lindell, and a few of the other defensemen. I haven’t quite seen enough from them and wonder if there is some real long-term fatigue setting in.

Dallas has rolled Harley, Lindell, and Miro Heiskanen at a high rate. They play far more minutes than the other three in any given game. And they should play more, they are the top-three blueliners. But should it be this lopsided?

Credit: HockeyViz

We have seen big minutes catch up to these same players come playoff time. Add to it playing a lot of hockey at the Olympics (especially for Heiskanen and Lindell for Team Finland), and it is hard to ignore the reality of fatigue.

I would be okay with the Stars finding some rest time for these D men. Not games off, necessarily. But lighter workloads, especially when they are able to do so with a nice lead (I know, what does that even mean? Every night isn’t a one-goal game for every team?). Stars coach Glen Gulutzan has done that when they have gotten those leads; it’s just been pretty rare.

Fatigue worries me down the stretch. I hope management and the coaching staff are thinking about it quite a bittoo.

The way she goes & a crappy new year

Sometimes she goes, sometimes it doesn’t go. She didn’t go.

The fourth Chicago goal tonight was an ugly one.

And as we just talked about above, ugly has been a common theme over the past three games. But still… Here it is.

Jake Oettinger didn’t like this goal. Gulutzan didn’t like this goal. Oettinger’s teammates didn’t like this goal. USA Hockey didn’t like this goal. Stars fans didn’t like this goal. Trust me, they really didn’t like it.

But it was also so fitting. The Stars had a few chances to take the lead and then tie this game. The visiting broadcast talked about them being close and the game working against them at times. They just couldn’t finish. And that’s been the scenario countless times this year when they have come out with two points.

But in a way, I am okay that they didn’t. Maybe this is what the team needs to put together the type of game they are truly capable of.

I know the record is great. I know they have played some good hockey. I am not debating that, I promise. But the reality is they are the healthiest they have been all season, missing only Lian Bichsel (who should return just after the Olympics) and Tyler Seguin. They have more depth, despite the nitpicking we do on our show all the time, than 90 percent of the NHL. You can even argue they are deeper than the Colorado Avalanche, who may never lose a game again.

They should be dominating. You can’t control 60 minutes very often anymore. The league is too even. But you can control 40-45 minutes. Sometimes more. And Dallas is too good a team not to skate circles around Chicago. Yet, they didn’t in either matchup against the bottom-of-the-league Hawks in the past week. That’s not good enough. Even during a slump in their game, they should win at least one of those games. Instead, they allowed four goals in each (technically three and a shootout winner in the first) and came out with one of a possible four points.

I am fascinated to see two things… One, will Gulutzan rip into the team after this loss? And do they deserve that? And two, how will they respond to these performances, and can they get it together before the break?