Stars need more from Benn, Seguin as round robin rolls on

The old hockey adage is that your best players have to be your best players.

And while the Stars are the ultimate collection of balanced lines and defense pairs, coach Rick Bowness was asked Tuesday if the old adage is true.

"Yes," he responded. "Very simply, yes it is."

Right now, the Stars' best players are struggling. Both Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn were near invisible Monday in a 5-3 loss to Vegas in the first game of Dallas' round-robin competition at the NHL playoff bubble in Edmonton. Their line with Denis Gurianov didn't record a shot on goal and the trio was a combined minus-8.

"They didn't get a shot on net, and I double shifted them a couple of times, just to try to get them going," Bowness said. "They didn't have a very good game, so we have to count on them being a lot better (Wednesday). If we want to win this thing, we have to count on those guys being a lot better."

The Stars on Wednesday will play Game 2 of the round-robin, this one against the Colorado Avalanche (5:30 p.m. CT; FS-SW+, NHLN). At practice Tuesday in Edmonton, Bowness moved Seguin from center to right wing and put Roope Hintz in the pivot with Seguin and Benn. That was similar to the line of Denis Gurianov-Hintz-Seguin the team ran throughout training camp. Bowness switched away from that because he didn't think Seguin was getting the puck enough on the right wing.

Still, this seems like the right move right now.

"We've got to try something different, and we're willing to try that," Bowness said. "We'll start with that, and we'll see where we go."

Seguin missed the exhibition game against Nashville with what is assumed was an injury ("unfit to play" by NHL standards), and Bowness said Seguin looked rusty on Monday. That said, both he and Benn are way behind their normal scoring pace.

Seguin this season scored .72 points per game in 69 games. That's down from .98 last season and .95 the year before. Benn tallied 39 points in 69 games or .57 points per game. That's down from .68 last season and way down from the .96 he had the year before.

Those are numbers that have to be fixed. Seguin had 11 points (4 goals, 7 assists) in 13 playoff games last season, and Benn had 10 points (2 goals, 8 assists), so they can definitely step up.

"If you look around the league, there's been a lot of goals scored by the so-called foot soldiers, and that's a big part of it," Bowness said when asked about best players needing to be the best. "But your top players - even if they don't produce points - they have to give your team momentum. So, yeah, I believe in that."

One of the more intriguing revelations Monday was the fact Joe Pavelski's line was terrific (he scored a goal) and Corey Perry had several offensive chances (he scored on the power play). Both are veteran additions who could help Dallas advance further than last season.

"They were creating offense. They were spending good quality time in the offensive zone," Bowness said. "Pavelski's line got us on the scoreboard. Corey made a huge power play goal and made some other really good plays that didn't result in us scoring goals, but they were still quality offensive plays. Both of those lines were generating good offensive quality chances, so very encouraging signs."

Now, they just need to get their best players contributing.

Up next: vs. Avalanche

Wednesday, 5:30 p.m. CT

TV: FOX Sports Southwest PLUS, NHL Network

Radio: The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM

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

Video: Bowness previews Stars' matchup with Avalancheis a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter Video: Bowness previews Stars' matchup with Avalanche, and listen to his Video: Bowness previews Stars' matchup with Avalanche.