Jump to content

Dallas Stars 2023-2024 Season Thread

Longhorn_Fan68

By Longhorn_Fan68
in Other Sports

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 1.6k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

Skipper
Skipper

Fired up for opening night.   Season ticket holder this year so making it.   Hard for me to get really invested in hockey (or NBA for that matter) in during football season (and this year we actually

Pato del Muerto
Pato del Muerto

Who do you think lives in cedar park, Leander, and liberty hill?  

Longhorn_Fan68
Longhorn_Fan68

right. mostly bc fuck Jerry Jones

Posted Images

markstanco

markstanco 12772

Posted
Posted

(Sorry for the formatting, paywall so I had to do the CTRL-A quick screen grab.)

Stars find new energy in Pete DeBoer’s line changes, grab pivotal victory over Kings
Wyatt Johnston and Evgenii Dadonov were among those who benefitted from the head coach’s experiment Tuesday.
Dallas Stars right wing Evgenii Dadonov (63) celebrates with his teammates after scoring...
Dallas Stars right wing Evgenii Dadonov (63) celebrates with his teammates after scoring against Los Angeles Kings goaltender Cam Talbot (39) during the first period of an NHL hockey game at American Airlines Center, Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024, in Dallas. (Chitose Suzuki / Staff Photographer)
By Lia Assimakopoulos

9:46 PM on Jan 16, 2024 — Updated at 11:27 PM on Jan 16, 2024


LISTEN
It took 42 games, but Pete DeBoer had finally seen enough.

Entering Tuesday night’s game against the Los Angeles Kings, DeBoer hinted that he would be shifting the Stars’ forward lines for the first time in a while.

Many of those trios have been solid for much of the season. Dallas’ third line — made up of Jamie Benn, Wyatt Johnston and Evgenii Dadonov — has not.

All three forwards have struggled to hit their stride this season. Johnston, who led the line with 11 goals entering Tuesday, began his season on a hot streak but had gone cold, scoring just two goals in the last 23 games.

Sports Roundup
Get the latest D-FW sports news, analysis, scores and more.

 

Dadonov scored just one goal in a 13-game stretch in November, and Benn went 11 games in December without a goal.

Their lack of production has been somewhat surprising this season, especially after the three became the Stars’ second-best line once they were assembled following Dadonov joining the squad ahead of last season’s trade deadline. They scored 17 goals in just 23 regular-season games last year.

“You want to give, especially the groups with history, as much runway as you can to try and get it together, but you’re halfway through the season now,” DeBoer said. “It’s time to make some changes if things aren’t turning around.”

Now beyond the halfway point of the season, DeBoer decided it was time for a change. It proved to be a smart one, as Dallas’ new lines came out of the locker room energized and rode an early two-goal advantage to a 5-1 win over the Kings. Both Johnston and Dadonov had a goal and assist in the win.

DeBoer has experimented with lines at times throughout the season, but he often reverts to the groups that began the season. With the top line of Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski rarely splitting and the second line of Mason Marchment, Matt Duchene and Tyler Seguin playing so well, there haven’t been many opportunities to make drastic changes.

But when the Stars took the ice for warmups Tuesday, the changes were among the most significant DeBoer has made all season.

Three of the four lines were different. The Benn-Johnston-Dadonov line was completely split apart.

The offensive groupings were as follows:

Robertson-Hintz-Johnston

Marchment-Duchene-Seguin

Benn-Sam Steel-Pavelski

Craig Smith-Radek Faksa-Dadonov

“I think, a lot like the Hintz line last year, the Duchene line has been consistently pretty good all year,” DeBoer said. “The other three lines have been some good, some average, some poor. That’s why we kind of shook up all three of those lines.”

Related:Stars midseason report: Grading forwards, defensemen and more halfway through the season
Johnston may have needed the jump-start most of all, as his scoring slump is the most recent. It became evident he was the key subject of the experiment when he was moved to the top line and announced as a starter — a common tactic to spark a player.

He capitalized on the opportunity, dealing out the primary assist on Hintz’s first-period goal before scoring a goal of his own in the third period that ultimately put the game away.

“I felt like he wasn’t getting enough puck touches, enough offensive zone time,” DeBoer said. “With Roope and Robo, he’s gonna get some of that stuff.”


His former linemate Dadonov benefited from the changes, too, as he scored his first goal in six games late in the first period by bouncing a puck off the skate of Kings defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov to give Dallas a 2-0 lead after the first 20 minutes. He also added an assist in the third period.

After Los Angeles cut the lead to 2-1 with a power-play goal in the second period, the Stars responded in the third with goals from Johnston, Pavelski and a short-handed goal from Steel to seal the win. Steel skated in his 300th career NHL game Tuesday.

Dallas’ second line of Marchment, Duchene and Seguin was the only one without a player to score — a stark contrast from most other games this season.

Stars goalie Jake Oettinger also had a standout performance in his third consecutive game after returning from injury, saving 31 on 32 shots and not allowing a single 5-on-5 goal.

“If it was 2-2 and they scored the goal and tied the game, it would have probably been a different game,” said Radek Faksa, who played in his 600th career game Tuesday. “That’s what’s nice about Jake and [Scott Wedgewood], we have good goalies, and they can make the saves when we need it.”

While making such drastic line changes are always a risky move, the gamble paid off and came at the right time for the Stars.

The team has battled through injuries over the last month to both goalies and defenseman Miro Heiskanen. Even its wins haven’t always been pretty.

It’s also in a stretch with back-to-backs on consecutive weekends — a grueling few weeks of play before the All-Star break.

Plus, Dallas will hit the road for four games in the next seven days.

In what feels like a never-ending, 82-game regular season — even with the Stars winning for the most part — changes like Tuesday’s are important to keep DeBoer’s players and opponents on their toes. They were also a catalyst in winning an important game against a Western Conference playoff team.

DeBoer rarely changes the lineup after a win in which his team plays well. Expect the lines to stay the same for Thursday’s game against the Philadelphia Flyers, unless, of course, Heiskanen is ready to return from injury. If so, Dallas’ defensive pairings will shift without a second thought.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...