Stars players aim to back up 'true vote of confidence'

Stars (36-20-6) at Hurricanes (35-22-4)

RALEIGH, N.C. -- There are certain emotional mileposts during a season, and the trade deadline is always one.
While the Stars didn't do anything, there is always the recognition in the room (and on other teams) that something could have happened. So when the day passes, there is not only a bit of relief, but also a sign that you can charge forward now with the team that will hopefully help you make the playoffs.
"You never know, so it's one thing that is out of your mind now," said defenseman Roman Polak. "I think we're a confident group and because they didn't do anything, I think they are confident in us. So then we go out and play our game and do the best we can. I don't think it changes much, but we know for sure now."
Carolina added center Vincent Trocheck and defenseman Brady Skjei and will go with Alex Nedeljkovic in net because of injuries to James Reimer and Petr Mrazek, so that means the Stars will be seeing a different team than the one they beat 4-1 in Dallas on Feb. 11.

"We don't have any video on them, so it's a bit of a challenge," Stars interim coach Rick Bowness said when asked about the trade deadline moves.
Still, Bowness said his team is concentrating on what it does best, and will continue to do that after the trade deadline. In fact, he said the decision to not make any changes tells those inside the room that they are heading in the right direction.
"We know what our team is and that's a good feeling. It's a really good feeling that we didn't make any changes, because we have a lot of faith in the group in there," Bowness said. "So it's a true vote of confidence to that group that we kept it intact and didn't disrupt it. And I'm sure there is some relief any time there is a deadline, so it's good that it's behind us."

What to watch

The Stars on Sunday took five penalties and had to scramble the lineup because so many players had to play additional shorthanded minutes and so many players didn't play at all because they don't kill penalties. The result was a stretch where Bowness put Jamie Benn on a line with Tyler Seguin and Corey Perry and moved Roope Hintz onto a line with Jason Dickinson and Denis Gurianov.
The Seguin line scored off a nice passing play that included all three forwards, while the Dickinson line had several shifts that showed plenty of speed.
"It's funny how that worked out," Bowness said. "All of the penalties and you're trying to get guys back into the flow of the game. With Perry, Seguin and Benn, they scored the goal and had a couple of really good shifts, so you let it go. I know I lost Denis and Roope in the penalty kill and so you throw them out there with Dicky, and you've got three big guys that can fly, so you leave that alone for a while."
Bowness said, that like everything with this team, it is subject to change, but it seems to work right now.
"You never know how long those lines are going to last, but when you see it, you just let it go," he said.

Johns day-to-day with upper-body injury

Stephen Johns is listed as day-to-day with an upper-body injury that is not related to the post-traumatic headaches that kept him out for 22 months. He will sit out Tuesday, but he was skating in the morning, so this really could be a short-term injury. Johns had played in nine straight games, exceeding 18 minutes of time on ice in the past six.
Johns' injury means both Andrej Sekera and Roman Polak will play in the same game. That has not happened in the past nine games while Johns has been playing.
Sekera is coming off a game in which he played a season-high 24:44 in a 2-1 win over Chicago, while Polak is coming off a season-low 10:48 in a 5-1 loss to St. Louis. Both have been trying to adjust to the lineup shuffle.
Anton Khudobin gets the start in net. He was fantastic in a 2-1 win over Chicago, stopping 31 shots, and is 5-1-1 in his career against Carolina with a 1.83 goals against average and .932 save percentage.
Justin Dowling was

Tuesday. He has missed 11 games with a lower body injury. The Stars are traveling with two extra defensemen right now and no extra forwards.

By the numbers

22

Benn has 22 points (11 goals, 11 assists) in 18 career games against Carolina, including a hat trick on Feb. 11. Benn enters the game with 299 career regular season goals

18-6-3

Carolina is 18-6-3 against the Western Conference this season and 17-16-1 against the East. Dallas is 14-10-2 against the Eastern Conference and 22-10-4 against the West.

29.4

The Hurricanes are second in the NHL in average shots on goal against per game at 29.4. Dallas ranks 23rd in average shots on goal per game at 30.4

He said it

"We've got to bottle that up. … We've got to use everything from that game and keep building. If we play like that, we're going to be a force to reckon with. It was fun, and everybody had fun playing that way."
-- Carolina forward Jordan Martinook on a 6-3 win over Toronto in which the Hurricanes had to use an emergency backup goalie and found a way to hold the Maple Leafs to 26 shots on goal.

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Corey Perry
Roope Hintz - Jason Dickinson - Denis Gurianov
Andrew Cogliano - Radek Faksa - Blake Comeau
Mattias Janmark - Joe Pavelski - Alexander Radulov
Esa Lindell - Andrej Sekera
Miro Heiskanen - Roman Polak
Jamie Oleksiak - John Klingberg
Anton Khudobin
Ben Bishop
Scratched:D Taylor Fedun
Injured: D Stephen Johns (upper body), C Martin Hanzal (back)
Don't miss your chance to see the Stars battle the Edmonton Oilers when they return home to American Airlines Center on Tuesday, March 3. The first 5,000 fans receive a limited-edition poster presented by Dr Pepper. Get your tickets now!
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.