Miro Heiskanen’s night can be measured in two assists, 23 shifts and 26:12 on the ice. The more interesting measure is when those assists arrived: one helped Thomas Harley make Dallas’ lead 2-0 with one second left in the first period, and the other came on Arttu Hyry’s empty-net goal at the final second of the third.
The Dallas Stars beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 Saturday at American Airlines Center, and Heiskanen supplied connective work across a game that demanded contributions from several places. Mikko Rantanen delivered the power-play breakthrough. Jake Oettinger stopped 24 of 25 shots. Harley and Hyry supplied the goals that shaped the margin. Heiskanen’s role was quieter, spread across the scoreboard and the clock.
Dallas asked Heiskanen for more ice time than any of its other defensemen. His 23 shifts included the final scoring play, and his two assists linked him to both goals after Rantanen’s opener. In a game with so little Dallas offense, those were useful places to appear. He also finished with two blocked shots, one giveaway and a plus-1 rating.
His first assist had immediate leverage. Harley scored at 19:59 of the opening period, with Hyry also receiving an assist, to double Dallas’ advantage just before intermission. Rantanen had put the Stars ahead at 2:16 on Dallas’ first power-play goal of the evening.
Harley’s goal was his first of the season, and its timing left Columbus facing a two-goal deficit after Dallas had held a one-goal lead for nearly the entire period.
Harley’s finish gave the defensemen a little protection of their own. A 1-0 lead would have demanded a shutout simply to keep Dallas ahead; the second goal left room for a Columbus answer. With Hyry earning the other assist, the play connected a defenseman’s finish to help from both a forward and a fellow defenseman.
Dallas found a scoring contribution that did not require another power play.
The second assist belonged to a much later and more anxious game state. Damon Severson scored at 6:21 of the third period, cutting Dallas’ lead to 2-1. The Blue Jackets’ goal was their only one against Oettinger, but the margin stayed at one until Hyry scored into an empty net at 19:59. Benn and Heiskanen were credited with the assists.
That final point should not be treated as the equal of the first in dramatic value. An empty-net goal is a different sort of scoring play, and Hyry’s finish settled the final score rather than changing the direction of an evenly balanced contest.
Still, Heiskanen had a hand in the goal that established separation and then in the goal that restored it after Columbus had reduced the deficit. The two assists tell a better story together than they do apart.
