At 18:51 of the first period, Miro Heiskanen’s backhand finally put the Dallas Stars ahead. Roope Hintz and Jamie Benn collected the assists, and the game’s first difference-maker was a defenseman working at even strength rather than a power-play unit manufacturing an opening.
Dallas finished a 5-0 victory over San Jose at American Airlines Center, and the timing of Heiskanen’s goal mattered as much as its authorship. The Stars had outshot the Sharks 11-2 in the opening period, yet the scoreboard remained stubbornly blank until 69 seconds before intermission. Early volume and actual finishing were separate jobs; Heiskanen handled the second one.
Heiskanen supplied an offensive contribution from a position outside Dallas’s forward lines. Their forwards ultimately supplied four more goals, but the first breakthrough came from a player whose nightly value usually arrives in less glamorous forms. Heiskanen finished with one goal on two shots, a plus-three rating and 20:37 of ice time.
His production was limited to one scoring play, but it changed the game state before San Jose could reach the first intermission with a scoreless tie.
Dallas then turned that narrow lead into separation quickly. Joel Kiviranta scored at 3:17 of the second period, with Oskar Bäck and Radek Faksa assisting. At 6:19, only 3:02 later, Benn made it 3-0 on a snap shot set up by Jason Robertson and Hintz. The Stars did not need another special-teams opportunity to build the advantage; their first three goals all arrived at 5-on-5.
Heiskanen’s goal also fit within a broader contribution from Dallas’ defense corps, though the distinction matters. He was the only Stars defenseman to score, while his blue-line teammates supplied a significant share of the evening’s workload. Thomas Harley logged 21:31, the highest total among Dallas defensemen.
Lian Bichsel played 19:23, Esa Lindell 18:54 and Nils Lundkvist 17:22. Bichsel blocked two shots; Lindell, Harley and Lundkvist each blocked one.
The distribution shows a team receiving useful work from several defensemen while one of them supplied the initial goal. Dallas did not ask Heiskanen to become a fourth forward in the scoring summary. One clean finish was enough to make the blue line part of the offensive answer.
The rest of the night belonged to a shared attack. Robertson scored an unassisted wrist shot at 16:30 of the second period, making the score 4-0 before the break. Mikko Rantanen completed the scoring at 15:22 of the third, with Sam Steel assisting. Five different Stars scored, but Heiskanen’s goal remains the one that changed the shape of the contest first.
Jake Oettinger stopped all 13 San Jose shots, including three on the Sharks’ two power plays, and Dallas killed both penalties it took. That was steady work rather than a goaltending rescue: San Jose produced only seven shots through two periods. Dallas’ own power play went 0-for-3, so the victory cannot be filed as a special-teams clinic.
