Esa Lindell was scratched Thursday, and the Dallas Stars distributed his missing minutes in a way the scoring summary could never capture by itself. Miro Heiskanen played 29:20 and Thomas Harley 28:27 in Dallas’ 3-2 overtime victory over Winnipeg, while the other four defensemen each stayed below 18 minutes.
That was the shape of the night before Heiskanen appeared beside Roope Hintz in the overtime scoring line. The Stars’ two heaviest-used defensemen carried nearly identical workloads, separated by just 53 seconds. Lian Bichsel played 17:47, Nils Lundkvist 16:47, Tyler Myers 15:44 and Kyle Capobianco 12:27.
No fixed pairings can be assigned from those totals, but the distribution is unmistakable: Dallas relied heavily on two defenders and used the rest in smaller portions.
The burden was attached to a game that lasted beyond regulation and required Dallas to recover from a second-period wobble. Winnipeg scored at 10:50 and 12:38 of the middle period, just 1:48 apart, turning a 1-0 Stars lead into a 2-1 deficit. Dallas allowed only 19 shots overall, but a low total does not make those two conceded goals disappear.
A defense that largely limited Winnipeg’s shooting opportunities still had to absorb the damage of that brief reversal.
Heiskanen and Harley’s minutes therefore say more about defensive value than a goals-only ledger would. Neither scored, and Harley did not appear on the scoring summary. Yet both were asked to remain central to a game in which Dallas had to erase a deficit, protect against another Winnipeg goal and continue through overtime.
Their work is visible first in the amount of ice they covered, not in a goal or assist beside their names.
The separation between the two largest assignments and the rest is more useful than guessing which pairing controlled every situation. Total minutes cannot reconstruct each shift. They can show the resources Dallas chose to use most often while playing without Lindell, and how far the distribution leaned toward Heiskanen and Harley.
There are reasonable limits to judging that choice from the result. Dallas won and held Winnipeg to nineteen shots, but still trailed 2-1 late in regulation. The two middle-period goals remain part of the defensive evening. A light opposing shot count does not make every shift sound, and a comeback win does not establish that this is the preferred distribution for every future absence.
The overtime finish gave Heiskanen a visible return on his work. Robertson blocked a Winnipeg chance after a turnover, then Heiskanen sent Hintz into a breakaway. Hintz scored at 3:47. The pass supplied a particular contribution near the end of Heiskanen’s long assignment, with Robertson and Hintz performing essential parts around it.
Harley’s contribution has no matching point on the scoring line. His 28:27 nevertheless belongs in the evaluation of how Dallas managed the missing defender’s work. Comparing minutes is not a claim that two players did identical jobs. It is recognition that both carried a substantially larger portion of the evening than the other four defensemen.
