Stars 4, Canucks 1: Hard to beat one of NHL’s best without finishing

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The Dallas Stars are third overall in NHL standings and touted as a Stanley Cup contender for good reason. They play fast and are hard on pucks. They pass with precision and their cycle game forces the opposition keep their heads on a swivel. It comes with owning the fourth-ranked offence.

Is that isn’t enough, the Stars added big, productive and highly-coveted winger Mikko Rantanen at the trade deadline on Friday.

It’s why Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet warned of what to expect and had to appreciate the brand of low-event hockey his club displayed before the Stars took control in tough 4-1 loss Sunday at Rogers Arena. The Canucks held the Stars, who were on second half of back-to-back games, to 19 shots.

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“When you play teams like this that are well coached and have a lot of firepower, you need good puck management,” said Tocchet. “Keep pucks and hold them. You can’t be afraid to make plays. If they’re there, make them aggressively, but you also have to be calculated when you play teams like this.”

In a bid to wrestle back the final Western Conference wild-card playoff position from the Calgary Flames, the Canucks had to make the most of their limited chances with 23 shots. But they didn’t.

Here’s what new learned as the Canucks got their lone goal from Derek Forbort, while Thomas Harley, Mikael Granlund, Jason Robertson and Rantanen into and empty net scored for the Stars:

Trying to win matchup game

The Canucks started their fourth line against the Stars’ first alignment of Wyatt Johnson between Jason Robertson and Rantanen with the obvious intent to bring energy. It worked.

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It was an interesting strategy and so was deploying a number of lines to keep the Stars’ biggest threat from being a major factor. After all, Rantanen had the pedigree of being a gunslinger with 55- and 42-goal seasons and has 28 has this campaign through 64 games. Holding him to one shot was an accomplishment.

“He’s so good down low, one of the best hash-marks players in the league,” said Tocchet. “He can play a 200-foot game, but I feel when there are pucks in the corner or around the net, he’s a heavy guy. You have to be under his stick.

“You can’t be off him. You have to play him really tight. It’s a tough job because he’s a strong guy and you might have to quickly double-up on him.”

However, it was Rantanen’s new teammates who had the answers.

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First it was a first-period point shot by Harley toward a crowded crease, and as Kevin Lankinen adjusted to make the save, the puck trickled past him to open scoring. In the second period, Granlund deposited a big blocker power play rebound before Robertson put the game away in the third.

He got to the net with speed to tip home a Duchene feed off the rush.

Forbort ends 82-game drought

The Canucks’ free-agent acquisition has been lauded as a solid blueliner, good on the penalty kill and good in the room. Goal scoring is rarely mentioned because he’s hasn’t scored in three seasons.

That ended in the second period Sunday.

Forbort ended an 82-game goal drought by taking a feed from Conor Garland and snapping a wrist shot past former Canucks goalie Casey DeSmith to pull his club even. The last time Forbort lit the lamp was Feb. 16, 2023, in Nashville as a member of the Boston Bruins.

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Forbort now has 18 goals in 533 NHL regular-season games with five teams.

Chances, chances, chances

It wasn’t like the Canucks didn’t have opportunities to score more than once.

Drew O’Connor fed Filip Chytil for a Grade A chance in the second period and the big winger also bolted from the corner to get a shot away and pounce on the rebound for another chance. There was a Kiefer Sherwood drive down the left side to the net to get a backhander away.

Dakota Joshua had a great chance down the right side trying to narrow 3-1 deficit. And then Teddy Blueger was denied in the crease before deflecting a point shot off the post. And then Nils Hoglander directed a puck into the net with his hand, an obvious no goal.

However, Elias Pettersson was a held without a shot, while Brock Boeser and just one and Jake DeBrusk to two shots.

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Hughes works toward ‘heart-to-heart’

Canucks captain Quinn Hughes skated with Thatcher Demko on Sunday morning as they continue to rehab respective injuries. And while Hughes is making progress, caution remains the plan.

The Canucks want to ensure Hughes is fully recovered from a “tweak” sustained March 1 in Seattle, a trickle-down affect of a Jan. 31 oblique-muscle strain. It’s a case of one part of his body compensating for another and it can cause lower-back stiffness.

“A couple of good days for him and we’ll see where it goes,” said Tocchet. “He’ll skate tomorrow (Monday) and that’s a positive. I don’t want to get too optimistic. Just go along with how we’re going at it now. He obviously wants to get some endurance.

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“He’ll ramp it up and that’s OK. He did that today. It’s usually the next day and the recovery after the ramp up. He’s going to have to practise before my eyes and Footy (Adam Foote) and then we have to have the heart-to-heart and go from there.”

The Canucks play three games in four days this week, are scheduled to be off Thursday and then play again Saturday, so Hughes won’t probably practise until next week.”

OVERTIME — The Stars were without first-line centre Roope Hintz. He took a puck in the face Saturday at Edmonton, was sent to hospital for observation, and has returned to Dallas for further evaluation.

bkuzma@postmedia.com

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