Can Stars channel Radulov's energy in right direction?

In hopes of controlling the swirling ball of chaos their team has become, the Stars on Monday dropped in a concentrated pill of more chaos.
And in this Marvel Universe season, it kind of worked.
Stan Lee would have been proud.
With a defense held together by salvaged parts from a potato gun and a Dora the Explorer wristwatch, the Stars added an explosive mix to the picture in the person of Alexander Radulov. Like an electric surge of Avenger energy, Radulov helped the Stars look a little more like themselves.

Yes, they lost a 2-1 game to Columbus on home ice to fall to 9-7-2, but they were outshot only 28-27, they won 55 percent of their faceoffs, and they had a 63-58 advantage in shot attempts. In a lot of ways, the Stars were closer to their game plan for the first time in weeks.

But that's the problem with these Marvel movies -- they're so darn complicated and hard to understand.
The Stars are trying to adapt to a new way of hockey under a new coaching staff, and they're doing that while changing lineups pretty much every game. Gone from the defense are John Klingberg (out four weeks with a broken hand), Marc Methot (not expected to skate for another 3-5 days), Connor Carrick (out a couple of weeks with a lower-body injury) and Stephen Johns, who has not played a game this season because of headaches and neck issues and does not appear close to returning anytime soon.
Mix in the fact Devin Shore suffered a lower-body injury Monday and is out at least 7-10 days, and there is so much carnage already in this season.
Montgomery said Sunday that the lineup has been a challenge.
"Right now, it's hard to build the offensive side of our game because of so many moving parts," the first-year coach said, adding that the mental exhaustion of trying to battle through a tough schedule while building a team is taxing.

"It shows its ugly head in our communication. We're not talking as much on the ice, so people don't know where to move the puck. You're always on the go (traveling), so you're mentally tired."
The Stars will get a day off Tuesday and get back to practicing Wednesday before playing host to the Bruins on Friday. Mix that practice time with what Radulov was able to add Monday, and there is the chance for some progress.
"It's missed a lot," Montgomery said of Radulov's emotion. "Also his intensity and pace -- he brings a lot of people into the fight with him."
Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin upped their emotion against the Blue Jackets, and the coach saw that as a good thing. But there are two edges to this blade. All three players took minor penalties and Benn added a fight. That kept him off the ice for one of the Stars' power plays, and the man advantage finished 0-for-4 on the night with one shot on goal.
Montgomery called it "discombobulated," something you see a lot in the Marvel Universe.

So can the return of Radulov provide a Doctor Strange solution going forward?
Can the Stars make sense of this tumult?
It's kind of Job No. 1 right now. Klingberg isn't coming back anytime soon, the defense is going to have to rely on players who have little NHL experience. If Montgomery chooses to keep the top line together -- and they looked pretty good at times Monday despite the rust -- then the depth scoring could again be an issue.
With Shore's 11 points out of the lineup, somebody is going to have to step up among the forward group. Can it be Valeri Nichushkin (four points) or Jason Dickinson (three) or Mattias Janmark (two)?
It needs to be somebody.

Maybe a good sign after the game was the defiance of the team. They didn't want to hear about the injuries or the problems, they wanted to get back to work to try to fix things.
"What it came down to was that we lost special teams. Our power play just wasn't good enough," said center Jason Spezza. "It's frustrating. We've played a long stretch of hockey here. We went pretty good, and to end it on a loss definitely is frustrating.
"We have an important three days here coming up to get back to practice and get some touches in and sharpen up our game heading into six [games] in nine nights."
Which is both scary and invigorating. The Stars are probably going to have to live in this swirl of lineup pandemonium quite a bit longer. It might simply be a place where their universe is located.
Can they make the playoffs in that world? Can they find consistency in the chaos?

Radulov seems to do it every game, so that is one way to look at things.
But the powers-that-be are hoping for something a little more manageable
"I don't think it was a lack of effort; it was a lack of execution," Montgomery said. "We just weren't very sharp. Our passes were not tape-to-tape, we weren't moving the pucks quickly enough or seeing the right options. And whether it was 5-on-5 or power play, I think there were plays to be made, but I think our execution with the puck wasn't where it needs to be."
Finding that execution in a couple of days will be hard, but mixing the nuclear reactor that is Radulov definitely changes the formula.
"I really like our effort," Montgomery said. "If our effort is like that, you know the execution is going to come, because we have a lot of skill in that room."
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,and listen to his podcast.