New strategy helping Janmark make bigger impact for Stars

Game 6: Stars vs. Flames (Dallas leads 3-2)

9:30 p.m., Rogers Place

TV:FOX Sports Southwest, NBCSN

Radio:The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM

Mattias Janmark appreciates his job.

The 27-year-old forward had to miss an entire season a few years back with a rare bone disease that affected his knee, so since he recovered in 2017, he has been thankful for every opportunity to be on the ice.

The Stars have been thankful for that.

Janmark was

(to symbolize that every link is needed for a win) after

a 2-1 victory over Calgary in Game 5

Tuesday. He blocked a shot early, had to leave the game, but then came back later an assisted on John Klingberg's game-winning goal in the third period. It was a gritty performance for a guy who has had a few of them.

"To me, Janny has played very, very well," said Stars interim coach Rick Bowness.

Bowness said he has been working with Janmark to change his game. The speedy forward stepped right into Lindy Ruff's offense in 2015-16 and scored 15 goals. He would use his wheels to stretch the ice and take long passes from Stars defensemen, acting like a sort of deep threat wide receiver on the ice.

The knee injury changed some of that, but when he returned to play under Ken Hitchcock, Janmark finished with 19 goals and looked all the part of an offensive force.

In his first year under Jim Montgomery, Janmark was limited to six goals in 81 games, and this year under a split coaching staff, Janmark had six goals in 62 games. Still, Bowness said he has liked Janmark's play and believes his versatile winger is getting even better in the playoffs.

He has been on a line with Joe Pavelski most of the playoffs and also is killing penalties, and he's having a big impact because he can possess the puck.

"He has great speed and he hangs onto the puck," Bowness said. "One of the great things I've worked with is I want to see him with the puck. Sometimes, he gets to far ahead and he doesn't end up with the puck, and he ends up standing still. So when you see Janny with the puck and hanging onto and making plays, that's Janny at his best."

Janmark said he agrees the new strategy has helped.

"I think since he took over he's just been trying to tell me he wants me to have the puck more," Janmark said on Bowness' strategy. "That's helped me a lot since he became head coach and it's helped my game. It's a read and an adjustment, buy I'm working on it, and he's working on it too, and we've come a long way."

Janmark has three assists in eight playoff games this season. And while he said he would love to get back to double-digit goal-scoring, he understands his role in helping Pavelski.

"I feel like I have bounced back pretty good," he said of the injury. "The last two years, the pucks haven't gone in, but I feel like I have developed a lot as a player defensively. I still feel like I create a lot of chances and now it's just an opportunity and I feel that playoff hockey brings out the best in everyone. Everything you do has an impact in the game."

On Tuesday, that impact was significant enough to earn a coveted award from his teammates.

"On the ice, Janny has been outstanding for us," said forward Blake Comeau. "He's such a hard worker, he's a great penalty killer, blocking shots, and he's got great speed. He holds onto the puck a lot in the offensive zone, I feel like he gets in on the forecheck and creates turnovers and allows Pavs to get to where he's good at."

And off the ice?

"He's just a fun guy to be around," Comeau said. "He's always in a good mood, he's excited to come to the rink and play. He's been huge for us ever since we got started back up."

Stars have chance to close out series

Dallas has a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series and has won two consecutive games. It has a chance to move onto a second round series with Colorado if it can win Game 6 tonight, but players and coaches are trying to treat this like just another game.

"The mood is good, we had a good morning skate, the mood seems to be exactly where we want it," Bowness said. "Their desperation level will be high - it has been the whole series. And our desperation level will be high - it has the whole series. There's very little separating these two teams and that energy level, that desperation level, could make the difference. So we know what we're facing tonight."

Stars goalie Ben Bishop continues to battle some ailment and is listed as "unfit to play." That means Anton Khudobin will get the start in goal. Khudobin is 2-2 in the series with a 2.40 goals against average and a .915 save percentage. Jake Oettinger will serve as backup to Khudobin.

The Flames have missed Matthew Tkachuk since the second game of the series. He is listed as a game-time decision.

Dallas had two Game 6s in the playoffs last season. The Stars beat Nashville to close out their first round series. However, with a 3-2 lead on St. Louis, Dallas lost Game 6 at home and then went on to lose in Game 7 at St. Louis. Calgary lost in five games in its first-round series with Colorado, and players said they don't need to look back at that.

"We've faced an awful lot in the past. It hasn't been fun," Calgary forward Sam Bennett said. "I know everyone that's been here the last couple years has not been satisfied with anything we've done. It stings, losing. We're completely motivated to do whatever it takes to win this game and keep moving forward. We have a lot of motivation here for this game."

Stars are road team in Game 6

While all games are played at Rogers Place in Edmonton in the bubble, the Stars are the road team in this one. That means the Flames get the last change and the chance to match lines. That could be a challenge for Bowness, because he has liked having the line of Andrew Cogliano, Radek Faksa and Blake Comeau out against Calgary's top players in Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan.

"We have great forecheck, skating well," Faksa said when asked what has been working. "We are reading from each other and we are physical. That's what you have to do against guys like that."

Bowness said that he'll try to get the match-up, but if he doesn't, he's comfortable with the defensive ability of all of his lines, including Tyler Seguin and Pavelski.

"Would we like that to happen? Yes," Bowness said when asked about Faksa versus Monahan. "Are we afraid to throw out Seggy's line or Pavs' line against them in their defensive zone, our offensive zone? Absolutely not."

By the numbers

6

John Klingberg has moved to the top of the team's scoring list in this series with six points (one goal, five assists) in five games. He also leads Dallas with 19 shots on goal and a plus-minus of plus-4.

2

Monahan, who had two goals and four assists in a first-round series win over Winnipeg, has two assists in five games against the Stars.

70

This will be the 70th career playoff game for Seguin. He has 35 points (11 goals, 24 assists) in 69 playoff games in his career.

He said it

"I think we've been really good at the night games so far. I don't know what our record is, but I think it's been pretty good. We've been able to channel that energy and let our day build as it's gone on. Our group seems to like the pre-game nap, so I know we're looking forward to that after talking to you guys here."

-- Flames forward Milan Lucic

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Alexander Radulov

Mattias Janmark - Joe Pavelski - Denis Gurianov

Andrew Cogliano - Radek Faksa - Blake Comeau

Roope Hintz - Jason Dickinson - Corey Perry

Esa Lindell - John Klingberg

Jamie Oleksiak - Miro Heiskanen

Andrej Sekera - Taylor Fedun

Anton Khudobin

Jake Oettinger

Unfit to Play: Stephen Johns, Ben Bishop

Scratched:Justin Dowling, Jason Robertson, Ty Dellandrea, Thomas Harley, Joel Kiviranta, Nick Caamano, Joel Hanley, Gavin Bayreuther, Landon Bow

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

Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.