In the aftermath of one of his three goals during a 5-0 Stars win over the Ducks on Thursday, Jason Robertson looked like goal-scoring had become routine.
As he beat Anthony Stolarz from the middle of the ice on a second-period power play, Robertson glided towards the blue line behind him and softly pumped his arm forward and his leg up. It was a subdued celebration, and one he repeated after securing his third career hat trick in the third period.
It all felt so normal and so repetitive — because it has become so. Robertson has turned the famously difficult task of goal-scoring into a nightly occurrence, a metronomic and calculated procedure executed with precision and regularity.
“Sometimes, you just sit back and laugh at just how good he is,” Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger said. “It’s special and he’s going to be doing that in green and white for a long time. I’m happy that he’s not doing that to me and he’s special.”
With his three goals on Thursday night, Robertson ran his season total to 22 goals, which is the most in the NHL. His 39 points are second-most in the league behind only Connor McDavid. Through 24 games, no Dallas Stars has ever scored more goals or produced more points than Robertson this season.
Robertson’s three goals were supported by Joel Kiviranta and Wyatt Johnston’s solo tallies, in addition to Oettinger’s 31 saves in a shutout win. The victory was the Stars’ second in a row, and was the 10th time in the last 11 games that Dallas has picked up points.
Miro Heiskanen (three assists) and Roope Hintz (two assists) also had multi-point nights.
But, like so often this season, Robertson led the way for the Stars.
He extended his point streak to 17 games, which is the longest in Dallas history and the second-longest in franchise history (including Minnesota). Should Robertson reach 20 games, he’ll tie Brian Bellows’ franchise record.
“You kind of get used to it, and you almost have to sit and think about it after about how special it is what you’re witnessing,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “It’s unbelievable. He’s making it look easy, and it’s one of the hardest things to do, to score in this league at this level. Incredible run he’s on.”
The Stars have never seen a player do what Robertson is doing.
He is a bona fide Hart Trophy candidate as the most valuable player in the league, and perhaps the leader more than a quarter through the season. He is leading the Rocket Richard race, and chasing down McDavid for the Art Ross lead. Even in Mike Modano’s 50-goal season, he didn’t reach 22 goals until game 31.
As it stands now, Robertson is on pace for an absurd 75 goals and 133 points.
Robertson and Boston’s David Pastrnak are the only active players to score at least 22 goals in the first 24 games of a season. Since the Stars moved to Dallas in 1993-94, only seven players have accomplished that feat: Robertson, Pastrnak, Simon Gagne, Jaromir Jagr (twice), Mario Lemieux, Wendel Clark and Bob Kudelski.
On Thursday, Robertson joined a prestigious list of players that scored at least 80 goals in the first 152 career games, company that includes Kirill Kaprizov, Auston Matthews, Alex Ovechkin, Paul Kariya, Teemu Selanne, Eric Lindros, Pavel Bure, Joe Nieuwendyk and Lemieux.
Robertson scored 41 goals last season, and was the Calder Trophy runner-up the season before. Still, this season is his best one yet, as the top line of Robertson, Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski continues to hum.
“I knew that line was very good last year, and he was a piece of that line and a very good player, but I didn’t know how good,” DeBoer said. “You always wonder ‘Could you do it again?’ Not only are they doing it again, they’re at another level again.”
Robertson’s first goal on Thursday came as he banked a puck from behind the net off a Ducks defender and past Stolarz. His next two were almost identical shots from the high slot that beat Stolarz low blocker.
It’s part of a kaleidoscope of goals by Robertson this season, who has scored in seemingly every way possible. On Monday in St. Louis, he did it on the rush with a wicked shot towards the far post.
He came up big in the clutch against Winnipeg with late-game goals with the goalie pulled. He’s scored when he’s been pushed into the net. He’s scored picking out rebounds around the net. Robertson has reached into his vast bag of tricks this season regularly, and the Stars have been massive benefactors.
“He’s taking it to the net, he’s getting rebounds, he’s got that knack for scoring from distance and finding the lane and putting the puck in good areas,” Pavelski said. “It’s going in on top of it, it’s been impressive.”
Oettinger: “He could take all the [optional practices] and show up last on the ice for practice, but he’s the exact opposite. He wants to do the goalie drills every day, and obviously, he likes to have fun with us, but I think he’s doing it because he wants to learn how to score. It’s working, so he needs to keep doing that.”
Robertson’s hat trick was his first since he had back-to-back hat tricks in Winnipeg and Minnesota last season, and his first one at the American Airlines Center.
“It’s nice, but I’m just going out there playing hockey,” Robertson said. “Obviously, it’s nice to be able to do it in front of your home fans because they get excited, and they’re the ones coming out and watching. They can get excitement, that emotion, it’s great for them, it’s great for our fans.”
Briefly: Oettinger made his first start since missing Monday’s game in St. Louis due to an illness. He practiced Wednesday morning and participated in optional morning skate on Thursday. … Former Stars defenseman John Klingberg was not in Dallas for Anaheim’s trip to the American Airlines Center on Thursday, as he recovers from a lower-body injury. Klingberg spent the first eight years of his NHL career with Dallas before signing a one-year contract with Anaheim over the summer.
