Vancouver, which is 2-16-4 in its past 22 games, never recovered.
“I think it makes it harder for sure,” Kane said. “I think we’re all human. We understand this isn’t very much fun. At the same time, you have to have — again, like I said — some mental toughness and some pushback and some fight. And whether you’ve got to make up something in your head to get angry and get to work, that’s what you’ve got to do.”
Dallas went up 4-1 at 1:33 of the third period. Heiskanen intercepted a Marcus Pettersson pass in the Vancouver zone and passed down to Steel, who made a behind-the-back backhand pass that left Duchene with an open net.
“In the first there was zero energy in the building and those games can be hard to play,” said Duchene. “I’ve been in those situations for where you’re having a tough year, you come out hard, you play hard, and then things get away from you. You’ve got to do that to those teams. You’ve got to take their will away. … The second period was huge. We upped our competitiveness … we talked about closing it out better than we’ve closed some games out and we did.”
Blackwell scored unassisted at 5:40 to make it 5-1. Drew O’Connor lost a bouncing puck in the slot and Blackwell skated onto it, across the slot and over a sprawling Tolopilo.
“We left ‘Tolo’ out to dry today,” Pettersson said. “Too many great grade As.”
Bichsel scored on a wrist shot over Tolopilo’s blocker from the left dot at 15:41 for the 6-1 final.
The 21-year-old Swiss defenseman, who was selected in the first round (No. 18) of the 2022 NHL Draft, was playing in his third game after missing 31 with a lower-body injury that required surgery.
“I was trying to come back stronger, and I’m really happy I help the team scoring some goals tonight,” Bichsel said. “The last three months has been a lot of work. I was trying to rehab fast, but also with patience. It wasn’t easy at all times but I think we all did a great job: the physios, the trainers, and everyone involved, so I’m really happy it’s paying off right now.”
NOTES: Heiskanen has nine assists in a six-game point streak. … Canucks defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph left 2:51 into the third period with an upper-body injury. “I think he was getting some X-rays while we were playing at the end there. We’ll find out what’s going on,” coach Adam Foote said. … Stars forward Roope Hintz missed a third straight game with an illness but skated on Monday and could return at the Calgary Flames on Tuesday. … Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers took part in pregame warmups but was held out of the lineup for the third straight game for roster management purposes.
