I think if the season were to end today, the Stars' latest road trip would be the best road trip they have played this season. With a lot more games to go in the regular season, there is still time for the Stars to top the road trip they just went on. Now you must be asking yourself, "Why is Blackout Dallas so impressed with the latest road trip for the Stars?" Well, it has to do with one thing, scoring depth. It's the reason the Stars came away with 7 of 8 points, staying in second place in the Central Division.
It all started in Vancouver, where the Stars took on the Canucks, as they tried to get revenge for what they did in Dallas earlier this season. The Stars won by a final score of 4-2 after Mikko Rantanen and Jason Robertson led the way in that game. However, what was more impressive was the scoring from Mavrik Bourque. He's been a quiet one this year in the goal department, and his ability to add a goal when the offense stalls out during a game is something the Stars need.
Now the game in Calgary is a bit of a different story. That was a game in which the Calgary Flames stifled the Stars from finding the back of the net. Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz were the lone goal scorers in that contest. Hats off to Flames goaltender Devin Cooley for a fantastic performance, even though I was a little ticked that the Stars were on the other side of that performance. Nothing the Stars could have done about that one, to be honest.
The game against the Edmonton Oilers was the game when the scoring depth really showed itself. I did not have Nathan Bastian on hat trick watch on my bingo card. Along with Bastian, Sam Steel, Jamie Benn, and Justin Hryckowian provided goals. That really showed how dangerous this Stars team can be when they are on their game. I thought that was their best complete game as a team this season. The cherry on top was beating the Oilers and chasing Stuart Skinner from the game after the first period.
To wrap up the fantastic road trip before Thanksgiving, the Stars made a stop in Seattle to take on the Kraken. Coming off that 8-3 win against the Oilers, I didn't really have any expectations because they didn't get much sleep. If the Stars were to have lost that game, fans wouldn't have lost too much sleep. However, the Stars were able to dip into their bag of depth scoring and had two players lead the way with another two points on the road this season.
Esa Lindell was the first depth scorer the Stars had that night. Lindell has been excellent this season, serving as a veteran leader while Thomas Harley is out with an injury. He's been teaching the young defenseman who've been called up so far and have helped them. It's always good to see his bright smile whenever he scores a goal here and there during the season. The last player to score in this game was one of the players we got in the Matt Dumba trade, Vladislav Kolyachonok.
The score was tied when Kolyachonok scored his goal in the third period. It was a nice rip towards Joey Daccord that looked like it redirected off of a Kraken player's stick. Even though it might have been redirected, it was awesome to see another player the Stars received in a trade provide a goal when they needed it the most. It also gave the Stars the win to wrap up their road trip on a high note before Thanksgiving
In conclusion, depth scoring really helped out the Stars on this past road trip when the offense stalled. It's great to have a General Manager who knows how to find players who can provide goals throughout the season. While I'm sure the Texas Stars want some of their players back down there, I'm happy that Hryckowian and Kolyachonok are getting valuable minutes with the Stars right now. Now, let's see if the scoring depth can show up at home tonight versus the Utah Mammoth.