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Dallas Stars 2023 Playoffs Thread of Dominance

Longhorn_Fan68

By Longhorn_Fan68
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C-Man

C-Man 26897

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31 minutes ago, Firemans4Horn said:

Kraken can roll 4 quality lines. We’ve got 1 elite line and it drops off quickly from there. 

I disagree. Our first line is one of the three or four best in the league but we roll out some quality on the second and third lines. The fourth line is gritty like you need.

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C-Man

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30 minutes ago, Firemans4Horn said:

 

 

29 minutes ago, MonkeyDoughnut said:

He didn't have many shifts from 3rd on. 

Robertson's 21 shifts were the fewest for any Stars forward not named Luke Glendening.

Lindell was a -3. Woof.

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wood

wood 11088

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38 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Robertson's 21 shifts were the fewest for any Stars forward not named Luke Glendening.

I wonder if there's something physical going on with him. He hasn't looked at all like himself when he's out there, and then tonight his ice time is down.

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C-Man

C-Man 26897

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1 minute ago, wood said:

I wonder if there's something physical going on with him. He hasn't looked at all like himself when he's out there.

Yeah, I thought he was loafing around out there in the third or OT. Maybe he's dealing with something.

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wood

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3 minutes ago, C-Man said:

Yeah, I thought he was loafing around out there in the third or OT. Maybe he's dealing with something.

IIRC he took some pretty good hits vs the Wild. Maybe one of 'em did some damage. Hope he gets back to normal asap.

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Skipper

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I'm probably taking a game off tomorrow.   Completely dragging ass today.  That last beer before OT started sounded like a great idea at the time.  Getting an Uber after midnight on a Tuesday was about as fun as you would imagine.  F these late starts.  Also, F our 1st period defense.    And yeah, Robertson was invisible last night although I didn't realize his ice time was way down. 

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Beau Vine

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1 hour ago, DeepEastTexas said:

This first game is giving me '94 second round vs. Vancouver vibes. Hot, lower seeded team with a forechecking game taking it to the Stars. Not exactly great memories.

Shit, I was at the last game of that series, in the old Pacific Coliseum.  I seem to remember Pavel Bure being more of a problem than forechecking.

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markstanco

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This first game is giving me '94 second round vs. Vancouver vibes. Hot, lower seeded team with a forechecking game taking it to the Stars. Not exactly great memories.

You could also say the same for the last round.

I didn’t become a stars fan until 97 when I moved to dallas, and it was probably 98 when I started following and going to games.

I wish I could have been around year one, I bet listening to a new crowd for a sport unfamiliar was entertaining.
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DeepEastTexas

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55 minutes ago, Beau Vine said:

Shit, I was at the last game of that series, in the old Pacific Coliseum.  I seem to remember Pavel Bure being more of a problem than forechecking.

He was, especially after that cheap shot elbow he gave Churla. 
 

That team had Murray Craven, Geoff Courtnall, Sergio Momesso, and Greg Adams (future Star) who could all pressure on the forecheck. Bure was the Star, and he had a big round, but those guys and the 3rd/4th lines were huge in that series.

Vancouver was coming off a big OT win in game 7 against Calgary, just like Seattle. 

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C-Man

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Saad on Robo: https://theathletic.com/4486166/2023/05/03/dallas-stars-jason-robertson-playoffs/

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DALLAS — After the Stars held a team meeting Wednesday afternoon, the media gathered around Joe Pavelski’s locker at the American Airlines Center. Jason Robertson, who was also scheduled to speak with the media, walked in the locker room before Pavelski and saw the assembled media. Instead of making the contingent shift to the other side of the room where Robertson’s locker is, the star forward came to the crowd.

“I’ll do it at (Pavelski’s) stall,” Robertson said. “Maybe I’ll score four goals tomorrow.”

Robertson was clearly joking but there’s an underlying truth that’s hard to miss as well. Pavelski, who just completed his first full game of the 2023 postseason on Tuesday in an epic four-goal spectacle, has four more goals and three more points at even strength this postseason than Robertson, who has played almost 70 minutes more than Pavelski over the course of seven complete games.

“I think every game, I’m still getting at least one Grade-A (chance) so that’s something positive,” Robertson said. “But I just want to be a positive impact on the game, turning the tide, not getting scored on when I’m out there, just putting our team in great situations after when I change. Just try to be a good, positive player out there when I’m not scoring and just keep trying to find those bounces, get those pucks and get our line going.”

Robertson has been a positive impact player for the Stars this postseason. He has seven points in seven games, all coming in the six-game series against the Minnesota Wild. One of the headlining aspects of that series for the Stars in that round was their dominance on the power play and Robertson was a huge part of that. His six points with the man advantage were only second on the team to Roope Hintz’s seven power-play points. Robertson is helping the Stars score goals and that’s better than floating through completely invisible.

But that’s also not the reality that Robertson has the luxury of being in anymore. With great talent comes great expectations.

During the regular season, Robertson’s 109 points were tied with Matthew Tkachuk for sixth in the NHL. It wasn’t like Robertson racked up those points just on the power play, either. His 56 points at five-on-five were tied for seventh in the league. Robertson’s production isn’t a fluke, either. In his breakout 2021-22 season, Robertson had 52 points at five-on-five in eight fewer games. He’s a back-to-back 40-goal scorer and, power play or not, one of the premier offensive weapons in the NHL. Despite Robertson being just 23 years old, this also isn’t his first crack at playoff hockey in the NHL. He has two rounds over two seasons under his belt and will play in his 15th playoff game Thursday.

That’s why, despite a respectable overall body of work this postseason, one five-on-five point — an assist in Game 6 in Minnesota — continues to be a discussion topic.

The Stars have a talented roster with some impressive high-end talent, which buys Robertson some time. Hintz came out of the first round in record-breaking fashion, leading the league in postseason scoring. Miro Heiskanen was his typical brilliant self and doing it at a record pace in time on ice. Jake Oettinger was a wall. The power play was a huge part of the Minnesota series as well so that helped highlight Robertson’s positive impact.

But now, the Stars find themselves in a different situation. They’re playing a team in the Kraken that doesn’t commit nearly as many penalties as the Wild did, which will lead to fewer opportunities on the power play and a higher emphasis on not just five-on-five play but five-on-five production. Seattle is also much faster and much deeper than Minnesota. In Game 1, the Kraken got five goals from five different players. Given how much talent is on the Stars roster, if one player scores four goals, there’s no reason the team should lose that game.

The lack of non-Pavelski scoring certainly isn’t all on Robertson. The Stars could have used something from Tyler Seguin, Hintz, Wyatt Johnston, or opening-round surprise Evgenii Dadonov. All were blanked on the scoresheet in Game 1. But the conversation will naturally begin with the 100-point scorer who will appear on numerous Hart ballots this season.

“You see it all over the league,” Stars head coach Pete DeBoer said. “Just last round, we saw (Kirill) Kaprizov and (Matt) Boldy have trouble scoring against us for five or six games. It’s hard to score this time of year. You have to fight through and you have to keep battling and you have to not get frustrated and not fall into the trap of you’re feeling sorry for yourself, or you lose some confidence and swagger. I think all scorers go through that. He’s battling. That’s one thing I’ll give him credit for. I think he’s battling for us.”

In a way, the contrast between Robertson and Pavelski is a valuable thing to consider in understanding Robertson’s struggles. Playoff hockey is a different beast and it takes experience to really get it down. Pavelski came in cold turkey and exploded for four goals on Tuesday but that was his 170th career postseason game. In Pavelski’s first 14 playoff games, he had four goals and four assists for eight points, three fewer than Robertson’s 11 points in his first 14 playoff games.

The natural question is, what is it exactly that’s ailing Robertson right now? The answer is pretty simple, even if manifesting the solution is not so much.

“Maybe not get so many shots blocked,” Robertson said after Game 3 in Minnesota when asked what he wants to improve in his game. “Just try to get more open spaces, maybe take more pucks to the net, maybe being a little too perimeter.”

Is it harder to find those open spaces in the playoffs?

“Definitely,” Robertson said. “Obviously, it’s going to be a little tighter out there but I just got to work that much harder, stay connected on the ice and take the opportunity when it presents itself.”

The shrinkage of time and space is a cliche thing in the playoffs but it’s also true, especially at five-on-five. According to Natural Stat Trick, Robertson led the Stars in shots on goal during the regular season at five-on-five with 194, which was 53 more than second-place Heiskanen (at all strengths, Robertson had a 107-shot lead with 313 to Heiskanen’s 206). Robertson’s 9.81 shots per 60 minutes at five-on-five was tops on the team. In the playoffs, Robertson’s shots per 60 at five-on-five has dipped to 7.94, fifth on the team. Excluding Pavelski for sample size purposes, Johnston leads the Stars in shots on goal rate.

Does that mean Robertson has suddenly become shy in shooting the puck? Not quite.

Just as he did in the regular season, Robertson still leads all Stars forwards in total shot attempts at five-on-five with 114. That includes goals, shots on net, misses and blocks. Robertson has zero five-on-five goals and has slipped down the shots on goal rankings, meaning more shots are getting blocked and missing the net. Is that a result of the opposition’s style of play or Robertson’s own timidness?

Mostly the former, but a little bit of the latter as well.

The Wild played a very physical, in-your-face brand of hockey that disrupted Robertson more than usual. But Robertson also appeared to be more timid at times this postseason, relatively speaking. In Game 1 against the Kraken, Robertson had 18 total shot attempts, which was less than Dadonov, Benn, Johnston and Domi among Stars forwards. It was just as many as Pavelski. Pavelski’s attempts resulted in six shots on goal and four goals. Robertson’s resulted in three shots on goal.

It’s also important to consider the circumstances surrounding Robertson. Losing Pavelski off of the line does hurt Robertson. It’s not the same as pointing to Hintz’s monster first round which happened mostly without Pavelski or Pavelski’s monster Game 1 against Seattle, which happened on a new line with Domi and Mason Marchment. Hintz was already an established star talent in the NHL before the top line of Robertson, Hintz and Pavelski was formed. Pavelski was also deep into his Hall of Fame resume before that combination came together on March 25, 2021.

Robertson only had 27 NHL games under his belt before he joined forces with Hintz and Pavelski. Robertson has the individual talent to measure up but there’s a natural hit in chemistry when Robertson’s only known one line his entire career and now he’s breaking into a different situation. Combine that with all of the aforementioned playoff intensity and the adjustment gets a little harder.

Robertson will figure things out eventually. He’s confident in that, as is the organization.

“I think he wants to (and) he’s willing to,” DeBoer said last week. “I think he wants to look at the analytics and the tape and he wants to learn. But it’s not easy for a guy that’s used to time and space and the puck on his stick. He sure wants to, and I have no doubt he’s going to get there. Obviously, we want him there a lot quicker than later. But he’s working at it.”

 

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