'Its next man up' for the Stars on a two-game road trip to New York

The Stars have been the healthiest team in hockey this season, so missing Roope Hintz (who is out with an upper body injury) could be a bit of a challenge.
Because the team has been lucky, it has not had to scramble lines too much. But the absence of Hintz means that several lines will be juggled on Tuesday at UBS Arena.

Tyler Seguin will move up and center Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski, while Radek Faksa will now center the third line with Denis Gurianov and Ty Dellandrea, and the fourth line will be Luke Glendening centering Fredrik Olofsson and Joel Kiviranta. The second line of Jamie Benn with Wyatt Johnston and Mason Marchment will stay the same.
"Everyone is dealing with injuries, its next man up," said Stars coach Pete DeBoer. "Someone's misfortune is someone else's opportunity. Gurianov comes in, Tyler moves up, we get some different lines together, so guys have to embrace that and get excited about it."

Gurianov returns after missing nine games dealing with a family situation. He went to Russia but has been back practicing for several days and said he is ready to go.
"As soon as I got back, I worked hard with the coaches and worked some extra after practice and before practice, and I'm ready to go," Gurianov said.

Gurianov could start on the left side with Faksa and Dellandrea, and he has played the right wing for most of his NHL career. However, he said he has played a significant amount of left wing growing up and said it shouldn't be a problem. He said he actually switched from right wing to left wing during games when he was younger.
Marchment has been playing his off wing, so DeBoer said it's just something players have to deal with.
The biggest change might come for Seguin. The center has been playing on the "third line" at times and should get a big boost by playing with Robertson and Pavelski, who (along with Hintz) have been the team's top scorers for the past two seasons. Hintz went out early on Sunday after a hit against San Jose, so Seguin played much of the remainder of the game on the top line.
"I think Tyler has consistently been playing some pretty good hockey," DeBoer said. "I don't think he's been rewarded on the scoresheet, but there has been a lot more good than poor. I think it's just a matter of time."
Seguin has 26 points (9 goals, 17 assists) in 41 games this season and has not scored in the past four games. He said he got a taste of what it was like to play with Robertson and Pavelski last game, and said he believes he can build on that.

"It's fun. They're just such great players and it just seems like the puck gets to you so effortlessly from them. They know where to be, they win their battles, so I definitely love playing with them," Seguin said. "I noticed last game just coming in underneath the puck like Roope does, getting speed, they're just so good at finding that middle guy with speed, so I'll be thinking about that a little more than I have in the past."
DeBoer has been pushing Seguin this year and said he hopes the former point-a-game player does find some success.
"It should be exciting, but at the end of the day that's not the cure-all to everything either," DeBoer said. "You have to find a way in your own game wherever you are to be an effective player. Hopefully, he takes advantage of being with two really good players, but I'm not looking at it like these guys are there to fix Tyler Seguin. Tyler Seguin has to keep playing like he is, and eventually he'll get rewarded."
Hintz suffered his injury on Sunday and is not on the two-game road trip. DeBoer said he does not think it will be a long-term injury.
Key Numbers
.663
Winnipeg leads the Stars for first place in the Central Division with a .663 points percentage. Dallas is at .659. The team with the highest point percentage after Jan. 11 will send its coach to the All-Star weekend as leader of the Central. Both the Jets and the Stars play tonight.
18.3 percent
The Islanders rank 27th in the NHL in power play success rate at 18.3 percent. Dallas ranks fourth in penalty kill success at 83.2 percent.
12-5-3
The Stars are 12-5-3 against Eastern Conference teams this season. The Islander are 10-9-1 against teams from the West.
He said it
"I think after a couple of shifts, I'll be all right."
- Stars forward Denis Gurianov on returning to play after missing nine games.
Expected lineup
Robertson-Seguin-Pavelski
Benn-Johnston-Marchment
Gurianov-Faksa-Dellandrea
Olofsson-Glendening-Kiviranta
Heiskanen-Miller
Lindell-Hakanpää
Suter-Lundkvist
Oettinger
Wedgewood
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.