How will the Dallas Stars respond after their game 3 disaster?

I’m not sure the NHL script writers meant to do this, but through three games in the second round, it appears that the Dallas Stars are on identical scripts for both round one and two. Now the team is down 2-1 in this round two series, so how will the Dallas Stars respond after their game 3 disaster?

Typically after a loss, especially a massive loss like game three, Jake Oettinger responds quite well. And by quite well, I mean that he’s usually lights out and stands on his head for most of the game. If the Stars can get that version of Otter in net for game four Tuesday night, then the series should be tied headed back to Dallas for game five.

In game two, the Stars did the exact opposite of what they did in game one. They were physical, had a stronger defense, and were firing shots on net. In game three we basically saw none of those things happen. Something has got to change in order for this Stars team to continue on in the playoffs, and I believe it starts on the first line.

Jason Robertson hasn’t been himself all playoffs long. I’m sure it has something to do with the defensive focus of other teams making sure they don’t let this 100 point scorer do any scoring. It seems as if opposing teams are fine if other players on the roster score points, but they aren’t going to let Robo get on the board. He’s got to figure out a way to not just be a decoy on the ice, and let it rip like he did in the regular season. It’s obviously easier said than done, but you don’t just score 100 points in the NHL if you’re not elite. Jason Robertson is elite, and he needs to get on the board in order for this Stars team to starting humming.

I’m no expert, but if it were up to me, I’d put Joe Pavelski back on the first line in order to get more comfortability going with Jason Robertson again. Tyler Seguin had started to build momentum and continuity with the second line of Max Domi and Mason Marchment, so I don’t think moving him down will cause him to be less effective. Get the best line in hockey during the regular season back together for the most meaningful hockey.

Lastly, we don’t know what is going to happen with Miro Heiskanen after getting hit in the face with a puck in game three. Reports are saying he is day to day, but hockey players are built different so it wouldn’t surprise me to see him back on the ice for game four. Obviously, we don’t know how much this injury is going to affect Miro’s play, so that could be concerning for a defense that has already struggled against this quick Kraken team.

Game four will be a tone setter for either team for the remainder of this series, let’s just hope that the Stars decide to grab the bull by the horns, err, the Kraken by the tentacle? How will the Dallas Stars respond after their game 3 disaster?