First Shift 🏒
The Stars were shuffling a couple of lines around this week in practice.
Robertson moved off his normal spot to the left of Roope Hintz and Benn jumped in there. Meanwhile, Robertson took Benn’s spot on a line with Johnston and Evgenii Dadonov. It was an interesting decision when you consider that Robertson has played the majority of his NHL career on a line with Hintz and the fact that Benn and Johnston seemed to have developed a strong chemistry.
That said, Robertson is off to a bit of a slow start with 6 points (4 goals, 2 assists) in the first 9 games while Johnston has 5 points (1 goal, 4 assists) in that span. The Stars are 7-2-0 heading into Friday’s game against Florida in Tampere, but head coach Pete DeBoer said he believes the team can perform better.
“We’re winning games, but I think you’re always looking for a little bit more,” DeBoer said. “Everyone will shift around until we get some consistency.”
Dallas played its best game of the season last Thursday in Boston. They scored three power play goals en route to a 6-2 win. However, the Stars rank 17th in scoring at 3.11 goals per game and 16th in power play success at 20.1 percent. Robertson has averaged 1.13 points per game over the previous three seasons while playing on a line with Hintz and Joe Pavelski, so his 0.67 points per game – even on a short-term basis – does cause some concern.
DeBoer said he understands the challenges that Robertson has faced. In addition to losing Pavelski, he also had surgery to remove a cyst from his foot in the summer. That meant he couldn’t skate for several weeks and he missed all of training camp.
“There’s no doubt Robo has been behind. He didn’t get to train all summer. He had surgery and it’s a surgery where he had to be off his leg for six or eight weeks,” DeBoer said. “I’m not surprised he’s playing a little bit of catch up, and I think he’s getting better and better every night.”
Robertson missed training camp two seasons ago because of a contract dispute and bounced right back from it, but he has never had an injury like this and not been able to train. But he said he does sense progress.
“I think I’m still finding it,” Robertson said. “I’m still not where I want to be.”
But he understands the process. He knows the surgery was serious and he knows the recovery will take time.
“I do analyze things, but I still take it with a grain of salt, too,” he said.
