CALGARY — When you reel off a franchise record 10 consecutive wins like the Dallas Stars — all while missing several key players — it takes the contributions of many.
One of those guys is forward Sam Steel, who tied his career high for goals (10) and set a career high for points (29) on Tuesday with two goals and an assist in the Stars’ 6-1 rout of the Calgary Flames.
“You’re always trying to get better and better, year by year,” said Steel, who grew up in Ardrossan, Alta., a hamlet just to the east of Edmonton. “I’m trying to take steps this year. I’ve been getting a little bit more opportunity, which is always great.”
A prolific scorer in junior with the WHL’s Regina Pats, Steel won the WHL scoring race in 2017-18 with 131 points (50 goals, 81 assists) in 66 games. That was the season after he was a first-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks.
But his game offensively has never really popped in the NHL. In his eighth season, his 10 goals ties his career-best output from 2021-22 with the Minnesota Wild. His 29 points is one more than his previous best of 28 set that same season.
Without injured forwards Miikka Rantanen, Roope Hintz, Tyler Seguin and Radek Faksa, Steel has found himself of late on a line with veterans Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene.
“Two elite players who have been elite for a long time,” said Steel. “I’m just picking up little things here and there of how they see the game, and we’re finding some chemistry. So it’s been fun.”
The line combined for both first-period goals as the Stars went ahead 2-1, a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. Benn finished the game with a goal and an assist, while Duchene recorded his first four-assist game.
“That line has been really good,” said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. “They each add to it. Obviously, Jamie’s got that veteran leadership. He’s great around the net. Big body, he can create turnovers. And Sam just goes and gets pucks and keeps them alive. And Duch, we can tell that he’s making plays.”
Gulutzan loves the flexibility Steel brings to the lineup.
“I watched him in Anaheim at the start, and then when he went to Minnesota, I thought he really started to come into his own,” Gulutzan said. “He’s a guy that’s adapted. He’s a great penalty killer. He’s changed his role from the Regina Pats’ scorer, but he still has that in him, and we’ve been joking with him, we were trying to get it out of him.”
The skill from Steel, that hockey fans in Calgary saw when he was a visiting player in junior, was on full display Tuesday. The recently-turned 28-year-old opened the scoring with a nifty deflection of a Duchene shot. In the second period, he sizzled a one-timer inside the near post after being set up on a cross-ice pass from Duchene.
“He’s still a young player and he’s bounced around a little bit, which is hard on the young player, and I think it’s coming for him,” said Duchene. “He’s doing a lot of really good things, and when the puck goes in the net, you start to feel good and you can take some steps because your mind gets in the right place.”
An example of his versatility, he was playing left wing on this night, but earlier in the season saw time at centre when there were other injuries.
“He’s a utility knife,” said Gulutzan. “I can use him at centre and wing and killing penalties and on the power play. So just a very valuable guy to have on your team.”
The Stars aren’t back in action until after the trade deadline when they’ll host their Central Division-rival Colorado Avalanche in a showdown of the league’s top two teams.
“We’ve got a great group,” said Benn. “We’ve put ourselves in a spot where hopefully we’re adding and not subtracting. If we don’t do anything, it’s totally fine, confident with this group and what we have and believe in every guy in here.”
Mavrik Bourque, Nathan Bastian and Wyatt Johnston also scored for Dallas. Casey DeSmith made 20 stops to improve to 13-4-5.
“We’re high, but we’re not getting too high. We’re keeping it focused,” said Duchene, who leads the team with 17 points (eight goals, nine assists) over the winning streak.
“You can be up and you can be feeling good in this league, as long as you bring the work with you in the little things, and I think we’re doing a good job of that. That’s a winning combination.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 4, 2026.
Darren Haynes, The Canadian Press
