First Shift: Stars seek balance, consistency as road trip opens in Columbus

As a team that loves balance in its lines and defensive pairs, the Stars typically don’t like to go with 11 forwards and seven defensemen. The normal alignment of 12 forwards and six defensemen allows for four lines of three forwards who can stick together and create chemistry, as well as three pairings of defensemen that also have consistency as they roll out.

But injuries to forward Matt Duchene and Radek Faksa caused the need for an 11-7 alignment on Monday in a 3-2 loss to Boston, creating a few opportunities to experiment.

Coach Pete DeBoer said on Monday morning that he usually likes to use one or two forwards a lot when he goes with this format. In doing so, he not only keeps some of his consistency by not messing up too many lines, but he also gets a good read on the players he chooses. Jason Robertson played a career-high 26:19 and played with pretty much every line. While both Duchene and Faksa are expected to return Thursday against Columbus and the Stars will likely get back to their normal balanced rotation, the game could be something that creates positive momentum in Robertson’s game.

“I hope it will help,” DeBoer said. “We’re trying to get him going, obviously. We’ve had a tough time scoring, so he’s not alone in that boat, but we wanted to load him up if we could, and we did that.”

Robertson, who had 46 goals among 109 points last season, has just two goals to start this year. He’s seen his shots on goal go down, and he had just two in 26 minutes on Monday, but he also said he felt a bit of a surge in getting the extra time.

“It’s something different,” he said. “Hopefully, I can move some stuff around and try to create some offense on each line. We’ve got a lot of skill on our squad, so it makes it easy for me to come in and try to boost it.”

When asked if the game felt different because of the extra time, Robertson said, “I knew I was out there a lot. My job is just trying to do what I’m doing. I think I played pretty well.”

Now, his job is to carry that over on a more consistent basis. Robertson had two assists in a 5-3 win over the Blue Jackets earlier in the season and has 8 points (3 goals, 5 assists) in his past six games against Columbus, so Thursday night might be the time to get scoring again.

Robertson was talking about slow starts and a power play that has scored just three goals in 11 games, but his sentiment can be carried over to his own game.

“I remember in my previous years, we worked our way out of it,” Robertson said. “I mean our power play has three goals, so that definitely needs to pick up. Guys are trying out there, they just can’t find one.”

Key Numbers

49.1 percent
The Stars currently rank 20th in faceoff success at 49.1 percent this season. They led the NHL last season at 54.6 percent. Dallas has won just 42.9 percent of its draws in the past three games.

2.67
Columbus ranks 27th in offense at 2.67 goals per game.

12.55
Columbus ranks 31st in hits per game at 12.55, while the Stars rank 29th at 13.83.

He Said It

“We know that’s an issue. It’s something we talk about and are trying to address. It’s been hit or miss. We’ve had some good starts, but more poor ones than good ones, so it’s definitely on our radar. It’s something I know we’re capable of getting fixed.”

- Stars coach Pete DeBoer on his team being outscored 5-11 in first periods this year.

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.