DALLAS — Jason Robertson extended his point streak to an NHL career-high 17 games and scored a hat trick for the Dallas Stars in a 5-0 win against the Anaheim Ducks at American Airlines Center on Thursday.
“I’m just getting in position to shoot the puck,” Robertson said. “Just got to get past the first guy and get it to the net. I’m happy my mom was able to make it and watch it. She’s probably over the moon right now and excited.”
Robertson has 20 goals and 12 assists in the streak, which is three games shy of the Stars/Minnesota North Stars record held by Brian Bellows (1985-86).
“You almost have to sit and think about it afterwards, about how special it is what you’re witnessing,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. “It’s unbelievable. He’s making it look easy, and it’s one of the hardest things there is to do, to score in this league at this level.”
Video: ANA@DAL: Robertson records 3 goals versus the Ducks
Jake Oettinger made 31 saves in his fourth NHL shutout for the Stars (14-6-4). Miro Heiskanen had three assists, and Roope Hintz had two assists.
Anthony Stolarz made 36 saves and stopped Jamie Benn on a penalty shot in the third period for the Ducks (6-16-2), who have lost four straight.
“It’s a good team, they’re well balanced,” Anaheim forward Simon Benoit said. “They bring that puck deep, they go to the net. When we give them a little bit of space, they just take it. I think that’s what they did. We let off that hook a little bit, and they just capitalized on those [mistakes] we have.”
Robertson became the first 20-goal scorer in the NHL this season when his wraparound went in off the stick of the Ducks defenseman. Urho Vaakanainen to give the Stars a 1-0 lead at 4:13 of the first period.
He scored his second of the game on the power play to make it 2-0 at 7:43 of the second period when his shot from the high slot went off the left post and in.
“He’s our first-line guy, and he could take all the optionals and show up last on the ice and stuff, but he’s the exact opposite,” Oettinger said. “He wants to do the goalie drills every day. He likes to have fun with us, but I think he’s doing it because he wants to learn how to score. Obviously, it’s working, so he needs to keep doing that.”
Joel Kiviranta made it 3-0 at 11:09 when the rebound of Heiskanen’s shot landed in his chest and he snapped it past Stolarz.
“To a man, we should all be embarrassed with the effort,” Ducks forward Derek Grant said. “Once they got their second and third, it’s like we all just sat back and didn’t want to win. You can’t play like that in this league, you’re going to get burned. Guys need to be [ticked] off, they need to be embarrassed. It’s not fun for anyone, but you’ve got to find a way to take that and use it for fuel.”
Video: ANA@DAL: Oettinger stops all 31 in 5-0 win over Ducks
Robertson completed his third NHL hat trick and scored his NHL-leading 22nd of the season on the power play to make it 4-0 at 1:23 of the third period on a shot from the top of the right face-off circle.
Wyatt Johnston made it 5-0 at 11:23 on a backhand from the slot.
“We just need to play the same way, all night, 60 minutes,” Ducks coach Dallas Eakins said. “There’s no reason to change off of a game plan. We started to want to take chances, and that’s an experienced team. If you’re going to take chances, they’re going to make you pay. That’s a team to be reckoned with over there. They play a very efficient game. They’re not going to give you much and they’re just waiting for you to leave something on the table. They caught us from behind, we weren’t moving our feet. We turned over pucks, they went the other way quickly.”
NOTES: Oettinger earned his 50th NHL win and required the third-fewest games (93) in Stars/North Stars history to reach the mark from the start of his tenure with the team, behind Ed Belfour (82 games) and Kari Lehtonen (92 games). . … Robertson has an 11-game home point streak.
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