The opening faceoff went to Dallas. The first sustained advantage went to New Jersey, which is why the Stars’ 28-24 edge at the dot amounted to very little in Tuesday’s 5-1 loss at American Airlines Center.
A faceoff establishes where play resumes. It does not promise a clean possession, a successful exit, an offensive-zone entry or another touch before the opponent intervenes. New Jersey finished with 60 shot attempts to Dallas’ 38 and put 27 shots on Casey DeSmith, while Dallas managed 18 against Connor Hellebuyck. The difference was made after the puck dropped.
Arttu Hyry won the opening draw for Dallas, with Evan Rodrigues losing it for New Jersey. Rodrigues then tested DeSmith 31 seconds into the period, sent another attempt wide eight seconds later and had a third try blocked at 52 seconds. Those were separate events, not proof of one uninterrupted Devils possession.
They do illustrate how quickly New Jersey turned the early game into a series of attempts while Dallas had yet to record a shot on Hellebuyck.
Nico Hischier opened the scoring 2:41 into the first. He went around Lian Bichsel, waited for DeSmith to commit and finished from the lower-left part of the circle. Dallas challenged for goalie interference; the challenge failed, and the Stars received a delay-of-game penalty. Dallas won the ensuing faceoff, but the goal remained and the restart did not repair the damage already done.
The same distinction surfaced immediately after the second-period draw. Luke Hughes missed wide 12 seconds after the opening faceoff. Dallas won the next one at 14 seconds, yet Hischier scored 24 seconds later, his second goal of the night, before the period had reached its first minute. Timo Meier’s drop pass created the chance, and Hischier finished from the upper-left circle.
Dallas had won that restart. New Jersey had produced the dangerous play. A faceoff can provide access to the puck; it cannot manufacture the next pass or protect the puck once the play leaves the circle.
New Jersey’s third goal offered another example of the gap in skill and execution. At 11:45 of the second, Jesper Boqvist scored from above the right circle after Jack Hughes supplied a no-look pass. The Devils were finding ways to turn a possession into an actual threat. Dallas was accumulating opportunities to begin plays without generating enough of the plays themselves.
The Stars did create one clean answer. At 16:08, Justin Hryckowian redirected Tyler Myers’ point shot for his second goal in two games, with Myers and Colin Blackwell earning the assists. Dallas had won the preceding draw, but the finish came from Myers’ shot and Hryckowian’s touch. The faceoff helped start the shift; it did not score the goal.
There is still a fair argument for valuing Dallas’ faceoff work. Four extra wins can produce an offensive-zone chance, prevent an icing from becoming a long defensive sequence or begin a penalty kill with possession. Dallas also won the third-period shot count 8-4.
Hellebuyck, making his first Devils appearance of the season, stopped 17 of 18; this was not a case of an unbeatable goalie erasing a relentless Dallas attack.
