Hyry on a Heater

Casey’s 100th career win came against the Avs in their barn, with a 3-2 shootout. Delivering our first win over a division opponent, you couldn’t tell he hadn’t played in 2 weeks- what an exceptional performance! Although we’re generally a better road team, playing against a fully healthy, top rival is never a small feat- and lucky for us Makar was not the staple the Avs were betting on. Avs had a rough start with a couple of goals turned over for off sides and puck kicked in, kept Dallas in the standings to take the game.

Rantanen got the puck to Miro who had a clean race down the ice for his 3rd goal of the season, placing him (at the time) as top goal scorer on the roster. Miro the hero is a perfect representation of who he is for this franchise, and how the league needs to stop playing and award him the James Norris. The highlight reel for me in the game is when Hyry stole the puck from Makar for a short handed breakaway goal- put it on replay! Hyry is proving what a brilliant player he is on both sides of the ice and the fact he out-skated a healthy Makar is nothing to breeze over. Showing his strength on special teams he had a second breakaway and nearly scored with a back to back high-danger for Wedgewood; energy he would carry into the next game. We took our first points on the road with a shoot out win- Robo coming down the right for surprise and Hintz getting the second one in; I think if Seguin would’ve done his usual speed fake out he would’ve been a green dot. This fast paced win set the tone for another division win in Chicago.

Coming into the second half of the roadtrip, we were nervous to see Bäck go out so early in Colorado- Johnston coming back was a necessity. Hintz coming off late in the last game with a right hand injury- something minor we hope will be healed by Tuesday. We saw Dallas make a scramble with signing of Perron, a veteran player who has been on several teams, but still needs time with our coaches before being put in. Do all these injuries quickly spreading across the league put consideration on longer training camps, seeing as most of what we’re seeing is lower body IR.

Despite the injuries, Dallas still put forth a shining performance in Chicago. Otter with a shutout, it is now his 3rd in only 6 played games this season. His early save against Moore’s high-danger shot set the tone for a perfect performance. We are seeing a healthy rivalry between both goalies to show their absolute best and it’s giving us quite possibly a year we won’t forget. Ranking noticeably high with the elite save percentage, I don’t think it’s biased to name Otter best in the league this season, despite the early stage. Another contender in the race for a career year is Hyry- and he has been a fun player to hype up! He put up back to back goals in his first multi-point game- a fast breakaway with Steele and the second was a breakthrough the middle for a clean backhand shot. Earning (my personal) Star of the game, he noticeably had twice as many face-offs as any other player, winning a staggering 9 of the 14 (not even his typical highs). Ranking 3rd in the league with 66% win percentage, he’s a staple in the defensive zone. He’s lighting up the stat sheet and earning a long term spot on the roster as he continues to improve and impress us from last season’s strong introduction.

A fast paced first period ended in a 0-0, however Dallas quickly revived the overturn goal in the second. Robo with a power play snipe, back in his special teams element and taking back his first period goal. The 4th goal came late in the game from Hintz with a quick back and forth with Robo from the left circle winning face off. A game that could’ve easily ended in 6-0, it was hard to agree with the goal turnover in the first. The offsides call was a little gray for me- Hintz knew where the puck was going, his stick was handling the puck, he had control crossing the line, I don’t see where they called against. Later in the game Hyry would have a breakaway chance with a rebound and just barely miss the opportunity of a hat trick. Perhaps with just a little bit of poise Rantanen was speaking of and Hyry will be on track for a hattie before the end of the year. Although no one can compete with Rant’s speed and ability to find pockets, the moose was loose by second period.

The end of this game brought some surprise to the stat sheet, with a 4 way tie on 3 goals between quite a spread of players. Miro, Hyry, Robo, and Hintz- is it now a rush to see who will be top goal scorer or will we start seeing typical names catch up? I enjoy seeing Robo and Johnston play together, I think they still have chemistry to bounce points off each other, maybe with Rant occasionally in there for a goalie distraction. Seeing Steel compliment Hyry makes them a surprisingly agile duo and I think throwing Ritzy in with them might help with his breakaway plays and small pocket snipes. And more of Rant and Ritzy together, with Harley it’s a rowdy bunch on the ice that’s going to push through any defense.

Ending the roadtrip with 4 of 4 points set the tone for the homestretch ahead. Given our stats show better when we’re away, how loud Dallas gets for its team is enough to rattle the opponent as much as the stands. I’m confident in our game against the Bruins, Pasternak is the only goal scorer we need to target, and when we play the Jets I think Helly will still be on his hiatus. This home stretch will help fill in our stat sheet for players who have yet to find their groove, and we’ll earn our way back up the division charts. It’s a fair stretch of teams and I’m confident we’ll come out with nearly all wins and ready to sweep another roadie in November.