EDMONTON -- The number jumps off the screen.
Minus-17.
By that measure, Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston is last in the Stanley Cup Playoffs by a large margin. The next closest player is teammate Matt Duchene at minus-13. No one else is negative by double digits.
Johnston was minus-9 in seven games in the first round against the Colorado Avalanche and minus-4 in six games in the second round against the Winnipeg Jets. Now he’s minus-4 in three games in the Western Conference Final against the Edmonton Oilers.
It looks bad, especially with Dallas trailing 2-1 in the best-of-7 series entering Game 4 on Tuesday (8 p.m. ET; CBC, TVAS, SN, ESPN, ESPN+).
But it isn’t quite as bad as it looks.
“It’s obviously not good,” Johnston said. “I think it’s a little out of proportion.”
Plus-minus can be misleading. Players receive a plus when they’re on the ice and their team scores at even strength or short-handed, a minus when they’re on the ice and their team allows a goal at even strength or short-handed. A lot depends on the situation, and a lot is out of a player's control.
Dallas has allowed five empty-net goals, the most in the playoffs. Johnston has been on the ice for each one. That’s minus-5 right there.
The Stars have allowed two short-handed goals, tied for the most in the playoffs with the Minnesota Wild and Toronto Maple Leafs. Johnston has been on the ice for each one. That’s minus-2 right there.
Johnston is minus-1 at 4-on-4 and minus-1 against an empty net.
The legitimate concern is that he’s minus-8 at 5-on-5, and Dallas has had only 44.2 percent of the shot attempts when he has been on the ice 5-on-5. He ranks 17th on the Stars in that category. He has no points in his past six games and one, a goal, in his past nine. But that’s not the whole story, either.
Dallas has been outscored 31-23 at 5-on-5 as a team. Fifteen Stars skaters have a negative rating. Only three are positive -- defenseman Lian Bichsel and forwards Roope Hintz and Sam Steel -- and each is plus-1.
“I think like the rest of our group, I think he needs to feel the confidence of a puck going in,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “… I think he needs some help with the guys that he’s playing with on the ice. He needs some support there. He can’t do that alone. You know, he’s had some tough assignments so far in the playoffs.”
Johnston has faced Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, Jets center Mark Scheifele and Oilers centers Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
DeBoer said Dallas had a “bend-but-don’t-break” mindset against Colorado without No. 1 defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who missed the first round with a lower-body injury and didn’t return until Game 4 of the second round. Winnipeg was the top team in the NHL in the regular season. Edmonton is explosive.
“He’s a 22-year-old with a lot on his plate, and I think he’s just fine,” DeBoer said.
Johnston needs to be better at both ends of the ice, and he knows it.
“I’ve had some looks that I feel like I should be able to finish, but I haven’t,” he said. “… McDavid or Draisaitl, they’re two of the best players in the world, so you need to just be really smart when you’re out there against them and make them defend, which is definitely something I can be better at, making those guys play in their own end if I’m out against them. They’re not going to do a whole lot of damage if they’re having to stop and defend.”
But Johnston could use some better luck, too.
Look at the Oilers’ fifth goal in their 6-1 win on Sunday. Johnston was on the ice for three seconds and not involved in the play when forward Zach Hyman tacked on an insurance goal on the rush. That’s minus-1.
“I changed, and he jumps out,” Duchene said. “I don’t even know if he got to the blue line and the puck goes in the net. Stuff like that happens, and when it rains, it pours.
“I hope that he is not reading too much into it or thinking too much about it. It’s a weird, freaky thing that happens. It seems like stuff like that happens in playoffs, where it goes really far one way or really far the other way for guys, and he’s fine. We have all the faith in the world in him.”
