The Dallas Stars will once again roll out a new combination of lines on Thursday night against the Anaheim Ducks. And though their juggling has become consistent, it should pay off in the long run.
Jim Montgomery is in a challenging position with the Dallas Stars right now. But it’s not necessarily due to a losing skid or a lack of success in his new job; instead, it simply has to do with finding consistency.
The Stars will welcome the Anaheim Ducks to Dallas tonight for their ninth game of the regular season. And even though it’s early on in the regular season, this will be the second of three meetings between the two clubs. In the first meeting, the Stars clawed through and found their way out with a 5-3 win. That was only 12 days ago.
But a lot has changed since then. Dallas jumped to 3-1-0 following a historic comeback victory against Anaheim and looked poised to continue building on their hot start.
They followed that win up with a short two-game road trip. The Stars lost to Ottawa and New Jersey during the trip and fell to 3-3-0. Following the road skid, they returned home and dropped 3-1 to the Minnesota Wild on Friday night. The three-game losing skid pinned the Stars at 3-4-0 on the year and put them in need of a quick turnaround before things got any worse.
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Their consistency had disappeared. After winning three of their first four games and dominating in most areas on the ice, the Stars hit a rut. They had lost all of the emotion, physicality, and overall determination that they had used to win the first few games. As a result, they were a different team.
And as the losses continued to pile up, new head coach Jim Montgomery began rapidly searching for answers. That came with making different changes to his team.
The most obvious change that comes with things going wrong for a hockey team is the shuffling of lines. So, Montgomery got to work.
The Dallas Stars began rolling out new line combinations during the losing skid in an attempt to generate more offensive pressure and less chances against on defense. It wasn’t the first time they had done so, though. After their first loss of the season against Toronto, Montgomery juggled his combos. He even changed his lines midway through the game against Anaheim after the Stars went down 3-0, and it ended up helping them rally and win the game.
But since then, he’s been rolling out new lines with every game. A lack of offensive conviction and different injuries have forced the Stars to adjust and try to find something that works.
On Tuesday evening, they pulled out yet another new combination against the Los Angeles Kings.
Causeway Crowd
Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Tyler Pitlick
Devin Shore – Jason Spezza – Justin Dowling
Mattias Janmark – Radek Faksa – Blake Comeau
(rotating forward) – Jason Dickinson – Brett Ritchie
Connor Carrick/Julius Honka – Roman Polak
The combinations ended up working as the Stars found depth scoring for one of the first times this season and turned the game into a much-needed 4-2 win.
But on Thursday night, they will roll out another new group in an attempt to turn the tide against the Anaheim Ducks.
Jamie Benn – Tyler Seguin – Justin Dowling
Devin Shore – Jason Spezza – Tyler Pitlick
Mattias Janmark – Radek Faksa – Blake Comeau
Valeri Nichushkin – Jason Dickinson – Brett Ritchie
Esa Lindell – John Klingberg
Miro Heiskanen – Connor Carrick
Julius Honka – Roman Polak
While the third line and first defensive pairing are remaining the same, the little changes everywhere else are what make this new combination significant.
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Justin Dowling was called up from the AHL on Monday afternoon and slotted into the lineup on the second line on Tuesday. He ended up tallying an assist and putting together a strong 2018-19 NHL debut. As a result of his speed and style, Montgomery moved him up to the first line for Thursday night’s game. In addition, Pitlick, who skated on the top line for the first time on Tuesday, will move down to line two alongside Shore and Spezza.
The Stars will also have a full 12-forward lineup instead of rotating through 11 now that Valeri Nichushkin is back in the lineup.
These constant shuffles offer a chance for different players to skate with different combinations and build chemistry together. As the season rolls along, it’s clear that the Dallas Stars will hit some gaps and need ways to quickly turn things around. That’s where line juggling comes into play.
And if the Stars can get used to it early on, regardless of which players are in the lineup, it will pay dividends as they get deeper into the 2018-19 season.
Tonight is another chance for the Dallas Stars to build momentum and make a new game plan work. Will the lines work? Will Montgomery make a switch midway through? Will the changes bring more grief?
That’s up to the players. We’ll see at 7:30 when the puck drops.