Robertson's Natural Hat Trick, Rantanen's 800th Point and a Heiskanen Scare: Stars Survive Washington 6-5

By Nolan Frost, RF Sports Radio Stars voice

Stars fans, I spent the last two weeks telling you this team could not score enough. Tuesday night, Dallas scored six in Washington, and it still came down to the final minute. Hockey is a funny game.

The facts

Dallas beat the Capitals 6-5 at Capital One Arena, per NHL.com. Jason Robertson scored a natural hat trick in a span of 5:20 early in the second period, the third-fastest hat trick in Stars history behind Tom McCarthy and Jamie Benn, per NHL.com. It was the seventh hat trick of his career and his third natural hat trick. He also had an assist.

Mikko Rantanen scored to reach 800 career NHL points, becoming the fourth Finnish player to do it after Teemu Selanne, Jari Kurri and Saku Koivu, per NHL.com. Roope Hintz had a goal and two assists, Joel Kiviranta opened the scoring, and Thomas Harley and Wyatt Johnston had two assists each. Jake Oettinger made 20 saves. Dallas (9-5-1) has points in five straight road games at 4-0-1, per NHL.com.

It got tense. Dallas led 4-0 after Robertson's third goal chased Logan Thompson, then 5-1, but Washington scored twice late in the second and twice more in the third, the last on Ryan Leonard's 6-on-5 goal with 1:02 left. Jordan Kyrou had a goal and two assists for the Capitals, per NHL.com.

The worry: Miro Heiskanen left early in the second period with an upper-body injury after being hit into the boards by Justin Sourdif, and Glen Gulutzan said he will be re-evaluated Wednesday, per NHL.com. "I thought 'Robo' was real good both ways," Gulutzan said of Robertson. Robertson said it was "the first game this season where there've been so many goals both ways."

RF Sports Radio's take (opinion)

My take: Robertson's night is exactly what this team needed. When he is shooting with confidence, the whole offense looks different, and the power-play goal 23 seconds into the second period told you he was feeling it.

But I did not love the last 35 minutes. A 5-1 lead should be a comfortable night for the best defensive team in hockey. Instead, Dallas gave up four goals and spent the final minute hanging on. Some of that was bad bounces, but some of it was a team that took its foot off the gas.

And everything rides on Heiskanen. He is the engine of this defense. If he misses time, the Stars' identity takes a hit, and Harley and the rest of the blue line have to eat big minutes.

What to watch next

Watch Wednesday's update on Heiskanen and the lineup for Thursday's game at Columbus. For the pregame view of this one, read our Nov. 3 Stars-Capitals preview, and follow the season on our Dallas Stars page.

Radio question: was the 6-5 win in Washington a breakout for the Stars' offense or a warning about blowing big leads?

Sources: NHL.com - Robertson scores natural hat trick, Stars hold off Capitals; CBS Sports (AP) - Jason Robertson's natural hat trick powers Stars past Capitals, 6-5; ESPN - Stars 6-5 Capitals box score (Nov. 3, 2026).