ST. LOUIS, Mo. — Stars forward Jason Robertson will find a way, even on the quietest nights.
Robertson scored in the third period of the Stars’ 4-1 win on Monday night over St. Louis, extending his point streak to 16 games on his only shot of the game. He only had three shot attempts.
After blocking a Niko Mikkola shot, Robertson won the race to puck and beat Jordan Binnington with a shot before Justin Faulk could close him out on the backcheck.
Robertson leads the NHL with 19 goals this season. During the 16-game point streak, Robertson has 17 goals and 12 assits.
“You think of some elite scorers over the time,” Stars goaltender Scott Wedgewood said. “[Alex] Ovechkin’s power, but he can pick a spot. Some of it is just placement. A lot of the time, it’s what’s available, what’s there, what you don’t see, depth.
“[Robertson is] smart with it. He’s deceptive. He can wait, push and change the angle. He’s got the tools, so he uses them to his advantage.”
Robertson tied Mike Modano for most goals by a Dallas Star in the first 23 games of the season with 19. Robertson’s 36 points are the most by a Dallas Star in the first 23 games of the season.
Robertson’s point streak is already the longest in Dallas Stars history. Brian Bellow’s 20-game point streak is the longest in franchise history, when including the Minnesota North Stars.
“Him and I have some fun,” Wedgewood said. “We battle every day in practice and joke around. He shoots on me in the summer, too, he spends some time in Michigan where I am as well. He’s just an elite goal-scorer and he proved it there again.
“What he’s doing on this streak, it’s fun to watch. There’s day we get the better of each other. He might say it’s more him than me, but I’ll fight the battle until the day I die.”
First for Hanley: Stars defenseman Joel Hanley got in his first career NHL fight on Monday, dropping the gloves with Nathan Walker in a spirited bout. According to HockeyFights.com, it was Hanley’s first fight since a 2014 rookie tournament.
“That was great,” Stars forward Ty Dellandrea said. “He doesn’t do that often. I asked him when the last time was, he said a really long time ago. He did great. All the boys were fired up after that. It was a great fight for us.”
Hanley entered the lineup in place of Nils Lundkvist, and logged 13:53 of ice time with two hits and a blocked shot.
“Hanner did a great job,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “Got in a scrap, defended hard, really gave us a little bit of bite back there. I thought we had been a little leaky around our net. I thought he’s a guy that really takes pride in defending around that area. He really added a lot to our group tonight.”
Wardrobe adjustment: Stars defenseman Janu Hakanpää wore a full face shield on Monday night, one game after finishing the game in Colorado with one. Hakanpää was hit in the face with a puck, needing three or four stitches, he said Monday morning.
Hakanpää said he hasn’t worn a full bubble before, and hasn’t worn a cage since his junior days. Last year, when he was hit in the face by a puck during warmup in Seattle, Hakanpää said he just wore a longer visor.
Quick period: The third period of Monday’s game did not have a television timeout, a rarity for any game.
There were only eight faceoffs in the period. One started the period, four were after goals, two were after icings, and one was before there would have been a TV timeout. Typically, TV timeouts are taken under 14 minutes, 10 minutes and 6 minutes, with exceptions for goals and icings.
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