Stars broadcaster Daryl ‘Razor’ Reaugh breaks down Miro Heiskanen’s impact
Miro #Miro
Stars analyst Daryl ‘Razor’ Reaugh recently joined the Musers on Sportsradio 96.7 FM/1310 The Ticket [KTCK-AM] to discuss Miro Heiskanen’s impact on the series vs. the Kraken and Jake Oettinger’s ability to bounce back.
Here are some of the highlights, edited for clarity:
It seemed like a different-looking Stars team last night with Miro Heiskanen in the lineup.
Reaugh: “He is the most significant player for the Stars. I said it last night. I would take Miro on one leg with one arm with only one working eye, he’s that good. He’s that important to the grand scope of things for the Stars because he plays so much. Outside of the net-minder, nobody plays more than him. He makes all the difficult things look really simple. He makes so many subtle plays that just go for granted throughout a game, but the cumulative effect of it helps you win all the time.
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“He moves the puck extremely well, he’s the best defender on the team, he’s the best penalty killer on the team, he’s the fulcrum on their power play. He’s just all of these things. It got thrown a little bit out of wack when he got thrown out in game three when he took the puck to the cheek, just because Jake (Oettinger) wasn’t having a good game. Sometimes they’ve been able to cover for him to a degree, but you get into a playoff series and then you subtract (Heiskanen) out of the equation, I just think it’s a real big, humongous hurdle for them to get by. They tried to patch it on the back end, but they’re not the same team without Miro Heiskanen back there.
“If you want to look at the basics of it, it was 0-0 when he took that rubber to the cheek, and then they got outscored 7-2 the rest of the game. That’s Miro.”
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The streak for the Stars and Jake Oettinger not losing back-to-back games continues.
Reaugh: “It never has this carry-over effect. He obviously doesn’t marinate in the loss or his own off night. He just purges it. He has great athletic arrogance and also athletic amnesia. I believe those are two things that make him a real special goaltender and player. Whatever bad things happen to him, he just moves on from it. He actually does it with good things, too. He doesn’t get all caught up in it. And he proved it again last night. He wasn’t a major, major part of the story, just because they were so good in front of him. They played phenomenally, and through four games it’s become pretty evident. You’re not going to beat the Kraken with individual performance. It has to be this concerted group effort.”
“When the Stars hit the gas and play like they did last night, they were just smothering and on top of the Kraken, made it a nightmare for the defense throughout the night. They had better upper-end talent. It was proven last night. Now, just do it consistently instead of this windshield wiper, Stars are really good one night, then the Kraken, then the Stars. Paste it together from game to game and they’ll best these guys in six.”
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