When Ryan Suter heard the question on Wednesday night, his easy answer was “yes.”
Was his performance during the Stars’ 4-3 win over Los Angeles his best since joining the Stars over the summer?
“The easy answer is yes, but I feel like we’ve been trending in the right direction and we’ve got to continue to get better,” Suter said.
Suter had a two-point night in the win over the Kings, tying the game late in the second period with a blast from just inside the blue line, then setting up Alexander Radulov’s eventual game-winner with a point shot that rebounded off the end boards.
“It was, it really was [his best game],” Stars coach Rick Bowness said. “He was jumping up in the play, he was breaking up play. … I thought Ryan was rock-solid [on] both ends of the puck.”
Suter was also key while defending the one-goal lead late in the third period. He masterfully shut down a 3-on-1 Los Angeles rush, diffusing a threat that could have tied the game.
“I don’t want to give you my secret,” Suter said with a laugh. “Honestly, every situation is different. You’re looking at who’s got the puck, who you’re out against No. 1, what hands guys are. You’ve got to make the decisions really quick. Once I saw it go over there, I just wanted to make sure it wasn’t coming back across and got lucky.”
He was also on the ice for 3:01 of the game’s final 4:39 as Dallas dealt with a 6-on-5 attack by the Kings.
“You’re doing whatever it takes to make sure they don’t score … you’re in desperation mode, not letting them get another whack at it,” Suter said.
Suter felt like a night like Wednesday night was coming, and he was right.
In the last five games, the Stars have been a dominant possession team when Suter is on the ice (of course, it doesn’t hurt that his defensive partner is Miro Heiskanen). At 5-on-5 with Suter on the ice, Dallas has controlled 62.2% of shot attempts, 63.4% of shots on goal, 71.7% of scoring chances, 76.7% of high-danger chances, 72.0% of expected goals and 75.0% of goals, according to Natural Stat Trick.
It’s a small sample size, undoubtedly, but nonetheless shows improvement since the start of the year.
Suter has also been the most successful Stars defenseman in generating offense. Really. It’s not John Klingberg or Heiskanen, it’s Suter. Here is how much offense Dallas generates when Suter is on the ice, accompanied by his rank among Stars defensemen.
Suter has needed a bit of an adjustment period since arriving in Dallas.
After he was initially paired with Klingberg to start the season, he’s settled in alongside Heiskanen. He was an afterthought in overtime previously, but seems to have usurped Esa Lindell’s 3-on-3 minutes in recent games. And Suter still runs the point on the second power play unit, even if the Stars power play has struggled in recent weeks.
Briefly: The Stars did not practice on Thursday before traveling to Winnipeg. They play the Jets on Friday night.
