DALLAS — For one night, the Stars tried to rewind the clock two seasons.
They tried to go back to a time when they were a healthy team, as they welcomed Jason Robertson and Blake Comeau back to the American Airlines Center ice. They tried to go back to when they were beating the Golden Knights, as they did in the Western Conference Final.
But they couldn’t bend time, as Vegas handed the Stars a 3-2 overtime loss in a game that Dallas outplayed the Golden Knights.
During the seventh game of the season, the Stars nearly put together a complete game in dominance of the wounded Golden Knights, an effort that more closely bordered on a 60-minute effort than their previous incomplete submissions in the season’s first fortnight.
But it wasn’t complete enough.
They outshot Vegas 34-21. They controlled the pace — and the crease, too. The team that Stars coach Rick Bowness has been asking to emerge (most recently during a loss in Columbus on Monday) finally did.
It looked poised to claim its first regulation win of the season, until Jonathan Marchessault tied the game with 1:02 left in the third period and Evgenii Dadonov won it 1:59 into overtime.
Luke Glendening and Alexander Radulov both scored on deflections. Anton Khudobin made 18 saves.
The Stars fell to 3-3-1 and will host the Senators on Friday night.
Before the game, Bowness reflected on the season’s first six games, when the Stars had not won a game in regulation and had instead suffered through frequent bouts of inconsistency and ineffectiveness.
“Are we underachieving a little bit?” Bowness said. “Yeah, but I’m not even referring to the record. I’m not even talking about the 3-3 record with that underachieving. The underachieving is that 60 minutes that we need to play, or 65 if necessary.”
The Stars outshot the Golden Knights 15-5 in the first period, pouncing on a Vegas team playing the second night of a back-to-back (and without Mark Stone, Max Pacioretty, Alex Tuch, Mattias Janmark and Nolan Patrick). It was something the Stars had failed to do this season, and part of the reason why the uneven record has drawn concern.
A healthy team should have made a difference for the Stars.
Robertson missed the season’s first six games with a shoulder injury suffered in his final preseason game against Colorado. He took a hit late in the game, said he felt fine during the postgame press conference, but his condition later worsened, forcing him out for three weeks.
Entering the lineup during the season’s opening month should be a familiar feeling for Robertson, having emerged as a Calder Trophy runner-up after Bowness scratched him early on.
“He’s saying ‘Remember that? You come in and you start coming guns blazing,’ as opposed to getting a slow start,” Robertson said. “I kind of look back and that coming into this lineup tonight and I’m like: I’ve got to work, I’ve got to win battles. I can’t just go through the motions out there or have time to settle in. I want to be a big part of this team immediately.”
Comeau returned his position on the fourth line after an elbow infection kept him out. Comeau said he fell on his elbow during a training camp practice, opening up a small cut that later got infected. Comeau said he went to the emergency room and had a procedure done to drain his elbow.
“Everything was fine for 10 days, and then it started to swell up and get a little bit red and hot,” Comeau said. “It ended up being infected.”
It was the third straight season Comeau missed time at the start of the season. He had COVID-19 at the season’s start last year. The year before, he injured his knee during an Opening Night loss to Boston.
“It sucks because you grind all summer long to be in shape, you have a tough training camp and then you’ve got to sit and watch for a couple weeks,” Comeau said. “So it’s been tough, but I’m excited to get back with the guys, just get in there and join the fight.”
Robertson and Comeau’s returns come one game after John Klingberg came back to the Stars lineup (he missed four games with a left leg injury). It made Dallas whole, save for injured goalie Ben Bishop.
The Stars were never complete last year, juggling injuries to Radulov, Hintz, Bishop and Tyler Seguin. During the Stanley Cup Final in 2020, they were without Hintz and Comeau and Radek Faksa.
Peterson down: The Stars sent forward Jacob Peterson down to AHL affiliate Texas on Wednesday afternoon as Robertson and Comeau returned. Peterson, 22, played the first six games of his NHL career this month, scoring a goal during his NHL debut in New York.
“He needs to go back and play a little bit,” Bowness said. “He hit the wall a little bit up here. This is a good league, it’s a tough league. He’s a great prospect. He has a wonderful future with the organization. Now, with it being a healthy lineup, it’s important that we keep him playing. It’s a good move for him.”
Sending Peterson down also gives the Stars enough cap space to recall two players from Texas, if necessary due to injuries.
