A shift to wing alongside Jamie Benn gives Tyler Seguin a new opportunity

Stars (13-11-2, 28 points) vs. Blues (16-8-5, 37 points)

Tyler Seguin's return from injury has been more challenging than he expected.
The 29-year-old forward had hip and knee surgery that forced him to miss almost all last season. However, he had all summer to rehab and felt he'd be able to get back to the pace that had him as a point a game player for most of his career. As it is, he has 11 points in 26 games for a point-per-game total of .42, and he clearly is struggling to be an impact player.
"Sometimes, you get a little frustrated not having the same kind of game I have in the past," Seguin said. "Some things that used to click in my head and the opportunities I would get, I haven't really seen this year."
Seguin's play and the emergence of Jamie Benn as a center has forced some changes in the lineup, and Seguin has seen his minutes drop in recent weeks. He appears to be on a right wing with Benn for Friday's game at St. Louis, and that could help increase his scoring chances.
"We need him, and I've got to help him," Stars coach Rick Bowness said. "He's good at getting open ice, but then he needs someone to get him the puck. He and Jamie have had a lot of history together. He needs guys who can hang onto the puck and make plays."
Bowness said he understands the process of getting back to the level of play that Seguin expects of himself.
"That was tough surgery he had, hip and knee," Bowness said. "To think he was going to step in just be 100 percent is wrong thinking. He's more comfortable now knowing what he can and can't do with it in terms of skating. Through time, it'll come back to where it was. It's not there yet, but he has to keep working hard in the gym and he has to keep pushing his pace in practice."

Seguin said he's committed to do anything he can to help the team win, and he showed during the seven-game winning streak that he can grind and get "greasy" goals. That said, it'd be nice to get his skating game back.
"I've had people tell me it could take a little bit to get it all back," Seguin said. "I didn't believe them, but I'm realizing there are things I'm still trying to find and get back. I know I have a lot more to give."

What to watch

These two teams played on Tuesday, with the Blues taking a 4-1 victory. The analytics were much closer, but Dallas put the Blues on the power play five times while getting just one man advantage. Those are things that'll be key Friday as the Central Division rivalry moves to the Gateway City.
"You make your corrections on what hurt you," Bowness said, pointing to the lack of discipline and the loss of physical battles against St. Louis. "We've got to be able to identify where we lost the game and they're going to identify where they won the game. We have to fix what we didn't like."
Dallas is in the middle of a run of 10 straight games against Central Division opponents and is nine points back of the Blues. The Stars have also lost four in a row and need to get back on track.

Lineup update

The illness that has run through the dressing room in recent weeks continues to mess with the lineup. Roope Hintz and Alexander Radulov will return to the lineup, while Miro Heiskanen will come out. As a result, the Stars have recalled Thomas Harley and Riley Tufte from the AHL.
Harley is a skilled defenseman who will help fill some of Heiskanen's minutes, while Tufte is a big forward who is a good fit against the Blues.
"With no Miro, we wanted to get a puck mover in there, and Harley is the guy," Bowness said. "And we need more size with Riley."
Riley Damiani came up and scored a goal in his NHL debut Tuesday, while Ty Dellandrea also played well. However, the team has cap issues, so both were sent back to the AHL and replaced by the recent call-ups.
"They both did a really good job," Bowness said. "With Roope and Rads coming back, there's your center and there's your right winger."

The Stars expected lineup could look like this:
Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski
Peterson-Benn-Seguin
Raffl-Faksa-Radulov
Tufte-Glendening-Gurianov
Suter-Klingberg
Lindell-Hakanpaa
Harley-Sekera
Holtby
Oettinger

Numbers

3.38

The Blues rank sixth in the NHL in scoring at 3.38 goals per game. The Stars rank 25th at 2.65.

10-3-1

St. Louis is 10-3-2 at home. The Stars are 4-8-1 on the road.

27

Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko has 27 points (17 goals, 10 assists) in 30 games against the Stars.

He said it

"It's really fun right now. The team's playing well, and we've got a great group of guys. Winning always makes everything a blast, so it's a lot of fun."-- Blues goalie Charlie Lindgren, who is 4-0-0 with a 1.29 GAA.
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.