In a thrilling display of skill, Jason Robertson found the back of the net twice, propelling the Dallas Stars to a decisive 6-2 victory over the Boston Bruins, thereby halting Boston's impressive six-game winning streak. This exciting matchup took place at the American Airlines Center in Dallas on Tuesday night, January 21, 2026.
Despite missing key player Mikko Rantanen, who is currently sidelined due to illness and leads the team with an outstanding 63 points (consisting of 19 goals and 44 assists), the Stars managed to secure this significant win. Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan remarked on the team's recent struggles, stating, "We’ve had a few of these during this stretch, but we haven’t got any traction. Now, we’ve stacked some good plays here in this game, but now we have to stack games upon each other."
The Bruins, who previously outscored their opponents by an impressive margin of 27-7 during their last six games, saw Morgan Geekie and Fraser Minten score for them, but it wasn't enough to turn the tide. Goalie Jeremy Swayman faced a challenging night, allowing six goals on 34 shots before being replaced by Joonas Korpisalo, who managed to make three saves in relief. Boston coach Marco Sturm candidly acknowledged his team's struggles, stating, "We were pretty much chasing the game right from the hop. Against a team like that, it’s going to be hard."
The scoring began with Wyatt Johnston netting the first goal for the Stars at 16:08 in the first period, marking his 26th goal this season and the league-leading 16th on the power play. Johnston's one-timer was set up by Roope Hintz, who delivered a precise pass from Miro Heiskanen, positioning Johnston perfectly in the left face-off circle.
Shortly after, at 19:47 in the first period, the Stars doubled their lead to 2-0 on another power play opportunity, with Bourque scoring off a rebound, following a commendable diving save attempt by Swayman. Esa Lindell further extended the lead to 3-0 at 8:26 of the second period with a powerful one-timer from the point, showcasing the Stars’ offensive prowess.
Lindell shared his thoughts post-game, saying, "Everything felt better, kind of. The biggest thing was, maybe, we didn’t mess up in the neutral zone. Our forecheck was good today, and we regained a lot of pucks, contributing to our offensive zone time and momentum. We just need to keep building on that."
As the game progressed, Hryckowian pushed the score to 4-0 at 19:29 with a goal that initially appeared to be disallowed due to a suspected kicking motion. However, after a video review confirmed that the puck had touched the stick of Bruins forward Mark Kastelic before crossing the goal line, the goal stood. Hryckowian expressed his satisfaction with the team’s performance, stating, “I thought we had a great start and we built on that, putting together a solid 60 minutes, which is what we’ve been aiming for lately. It felt great to get that win.”
Dallas dominated the shot count in the first two periods, outshooting Boston 32-11. Swayman reflected on the game, noting, "I think there are still positives to take away. It’s tough to get hit hard like that, but it’s essential to remember that it’s a lengthy season. It’s our responsibility to bounce back."
Robertson continued to shine in the third period, scoring his first goal of the night on a wraparound at 3:15, followed by another goal that saw him roof a snap shot at 6:37, bringing the score to 6-0.
Geekie finally put the Bruins on the board at 12:11, redirecting a shot from David Pastrnak, ending his personal 12-game goal drought. Minten added another goal at 15:39, executing a spinning backhand, resulting in a final score of 6-2.
Sturm concluded with a reflective statement, suggesting, "We must learn from this experience. From my perspective, the Stars are a playoff-caliber team. Even without some of their usual key players, they're prepared to compete physically and consistently. We, however, fell short in that regard. We tried to play a pretty game until the end, and that approach simply won't suffice. It’s crucial for us to take lessons from this defeat."
Some noteworthy statistics from the game include Johnston achieving the third-most power-play goals in a single season in Dallas history, trailing only Mike Modano and Jamie Benn. Additionally, Bruins defenseman Andrew Peeke returned to the ice with 21:13 of ice time after missing the previous game due to a lower-body injury.
