Miro Heiskanen’s goal arrived before the game had time to develop a personality. Forty-seven seconds into Saturday’s game at Bridgestone Arena, the Dallas defenseman finished a quick sequence involving Mikko Rantanen and Wyatt Johnston, giving the Stars an early 1-0 lead.
Then the Dallas scoring column went quiet.
Nashville won 2-1, dropping the Stars to 0-2-0. The encouraging part is easy to identify: Heiskanen, Rantanen and Johnston produced immediately. The less comfortable part is just as plain. Heiskanen supplied the goal, Rantanen and Johnston supplied the assists, and no other Dallas skater recorded a point the rest of the night.
That is too thin a foundation for a season judgment after two games. It is also too conspicuous to dismiss. A defenseman scoring the only goal can be a pleasant bonus; when he is the only player who finishes one, the bonus has quietly become the business plan.
Heiskanen’s goal came at even strength, on a right-circle wrist shot following a scramble near the net. The official scoring line credited Rantanen and Johnston with the assists. Heiskanen finished with five shots and 24:35 of ice time, while Rantanen had three shots and Johnston two.
Their involvement was real, but the box score offered no second Dallas finisher to turn that fast start into a cushion.
Nashville needed less time to make its answer. Arttu Hyry was penalized for interference at 3:36, and Steven Stamkos tied the game on the resulting power play. Ryan O’Reilly and Roman Josi assisted. Jason Robertson’s slashing penalty at 13:53 created another Nashville advantage, and Nils Höglander redirected a Jack Ahcan shot at 15:49. Alexander Kerfoot also received an assist.
Those sequences shaped the night more decisively than the opening goal did. Nashville converted two of its three power plays. Dallas went 0-for-1. The Stars’ lone advantage came early in the second period after Ross Colton was called for slashing, but it produced no goal. Esa Lindell’s tripping penalty later in that period also went unconverted, and neither team drew a third-period penalty.
Dallas can reasonably be criticized for handing Nashville three opportunities, especially when the Predators’ power play was so efficient. The immediate cost was enough: Nashville made two chances count, while Dallas did not make its one count. Through two games, the Stars are 0-for-5 on the power play, following an 0-for-4 performance in Friday’s 4-0 loss to St. Louis.
It is a notable early problem, though hardly a permanent diagnosis.
