3 Stars: Bourque finds offense, Dallas doesn’t have it, & a Bastian OT winner in loss vs Sabres

The Dallas Stars had a stinker on New Year’s Eve in a 4-1 loss against the Buffalo Sabres at American Airlines Center.

Mavrik Bourque is feelin’ dangerous

Mavrik Bourque told me today that he felt his offense coming. As much as I root for Bourque, I have also heard that before but truly hoped he would find it this time. There’s no better time to break out than playing with Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz in the top six.

Bourque said he has had to adjust his game a bit to find the proper areas on the ice, particularly when Hintz uses his speed to back off defenders.

How about finding some open ice in the slot, deflecting a point shot by Miro Heiskanen, and getting to his own rebound ahead of the “defending” by Rasmus Dahlin? That works.

The Robertson-Hintz-Bourque line has been good recently and was really good tonight.

While every other line has given up a chance or two in their own end — almost every skater on both teams did that in period one — this trio spent almost the entire period in the Buffalo end. Bourque had a couple chances, Hintz had a wide-open one-timer if Thomas Harley could have found him with the pass, and Robertson danced his way to the middle of the ice and nearly scored on the backhand.

I like this line. I like it a lot.

Power play went cold & just didn’t have it tonight

Over the past two games, the Stars power play has run into some issues. After scoring twice in the OT loss to Detroit before the break, Dallas has gone 0-6. That’s a small sample size, I am aware. But it’s not about the results here. The issue is that they have rarely looked dangerous. They were so bad against Chicago that the full second unit — featuring two defensemen and Esa Lindell as the netfront guy — got some real time.

Entries have been a problem. Sloppy puck play has been a problem. And missed shots have been a problem.

I am not worried these issues will drag on long. Dallas has been great at stopping any sort of negative trend, and it is only a two-game sample size after a Christmas break. But still worth noting, as a power-play goal in either game really could’ve swung things.

I said before this game that Buffalo might win 4-1. That had nothing to do with their streak; it just felt like the kind of game Dallas could get caught up in all of the distractions. The Olympic news, fresh off the holidays, an unheard-of three-day break…

And they simply didn’t have their game tonight. You could see it in the entries and breakouts specifically, where Dallas gave away pucks or got stopped up on a consistent basis.

These three, specifically, really struggled.

Hey, it happens. Buffalo has now won 10 in a row and deserved to win this game tonight. Now, it’s on to play a back-to-back on both sides of the New Year with travel… You know, like you do.

Nathan Bastian’s (AHL) point streak lives on & happy new year

I know this is not about the Dallas Stars, but I don’t care.

Nathan Bastian was loaned to Texas on a conditioning stint to play some games and eat up some big minutes, as he was the odd man out up here in Dallas. Bastian tallied an assist in his first game to hilariously extend his AHL point streak to five games, something he was certainly not aware of. His last point came just before the COVID shutdown in 2020.

Well tonight, Bastian was held scoreless… Until he wasn’t.

How about the steal at center ice, rush in on his own, and absolute RIP to the far side to win the game for Texas in 3-on-3 overtime? That should instill some confidence.

Oh, and by the way… The Stars are BY FAR the best sports team in Dallas.

Stars fans, DLLS DieHards, and anyone else who may be randomly reading this article at 11 pm on New Year’s Eve, Happy New Year, folks!

2025 was a wild ride, featuring a deep Stars playoff run, plenty of Dallas skaters being hit in the face, Pete DeBoer being swapped out for Glen Gulutzan 2.0, Thomas Harley (and somehow me) getting sponsored by Digiorno, some crazy fun and growth at DLLS, me getting engaged to the greatest woman in the world, and so many fun interactions with all of you.

As always, thank you. Cannot wait to see what 2025 brings.