First Shift: Stars look to fix home ice issues against struggling Lightning

When making decisions on who comes in and out of the lineup, Pete DeBoer says he lets the players have some input.

Well, sort of.

The Stars head coach has had to make some tough calls in recent weeks on his fourth line – choosing between Sam Steel and Ty Dellandrea – and said that while the guys behind the bench have the ultimate final say, the players on the ice contribute to the decision making.

“It’s funny, there’s not many times where the players don’t make those decisions for you. That’s the reality of that,” DeBoer said. “There’s not many times when you’re sitting in the coach’s room where you look at a decision and say, ‘These guys are exactly identical and I’m going to flip a coin on who goes in or comes out.’ Usually, guys make a case for themselves.”

Steel has played in 16 of 21 games and Dellandrea has played in 12. Each is averaging about 12 minutes a game on a line with Radek Faksa and Craig Smith. Faksa and Smith have each missed games, so Dellandrea and Steel have also played together. But in recent games, Steel has received the nod more often than not.

DeBoer is careful to mention all players when talking about who has played well, but the decision to play Steel speaks to the fact that he has earned more trust from the coaches. In each of his two training camps, DeBoer was asked about certain players either making the team or going to the minors, and he routinely says that the players make those decisions.

DeBoer said he has great respect for the players who are fighting for a spot in the lineup, because the challenge to prove yourself is real.

“It’s one of the toughest jobs in hockey,” he said. “Unless you’re a top six [forward] guy or a top four [defenseman] guy, every year you’re in that mix and you’re under that pressure.”

DeBoer said that putting the responsibility on the player does create a bit of a mental burden, but he adds that the coaches try to reinforce that the mindset is not “don’t make a mistake,” but rather “do good things.”

“As much as we try as coaches to make sure they understand that it’s not about making a mistake, it’s more about over the course of a game, did you play your game? Did you walk out of the game, even with a few mistakes, and go, he played to his identity and gave us what he had? That’s the more important question.”

While defenseman Nils Lundkvist has been in the lineup for every game this season, he’s also facing some similar experiences. Lundkvist has been used sparingly late in recent games when the Stars have been protecting a one-goal lead. While it’s not unusual for coaches to “shorten the bench” in tight games, there is a debate among fans whether Lundkvist needs to learn through those experiences to improve.

“One, he’s taken some minor penalties lately defending. It’s one thing if you’re running people over and taking penalties, it’s another if you’re taking minor penalties defending,” DeBoer said. “Young defensemen learning to defend without taking penalties at important times is part of it. And part of it is if we’re down a goal, he’s more of an option than if we’re up a goal. Different guys fit different spots.”

Once again, DeBoer sticks with his philosophy of players earning minutes by making decisions for the coaches.

“I think the coaches want to set the table for everybody to have success, particularly young guys, but they decide if they’re going to eat or not,” DeBoer said. “Everybody is different and everybody has a different time frame for that.”

Key Numbers

3.54
The Lightning rank 27th in goals against average. They ranked third over the previous 10 seasons at 2.70.

32
Lightning forward Steven Stamkos has 32 points (20 goals, 12 assists) in 24 career games against Dallas.

15
Joe Pavelski has 4 goals and 15 points in 14 games against Tampa Bay since joining the Stars.

He Said It

“We’re looking at this block, we’ve got a bunch of teams that have similar characteristics – Winnipeg, Calgary, Tampa, Tampa, Vegas – all really dangerous teams off of the rush with defensemen who are joining all of the time. That’s a focus, that’s an area where you have some similar strengths among this group of teams and we’ve got to make sure we’re good in those areas.”

- Stars coach Pete DeBoer on a five-game run that includes some potent offensive teams. Dallas is 1-0-1 so far.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.