Instant chemistry: Mixing Pavelski with young guns pays off for Stars

Line chemistry is one of the most elusive targets for coaches and players, and it's been especially slippery for the Stars this year.
With Tyler Seguin out because of off-season hip surgery, Jamie Benn has been searching for the right center. With Alexander Radulov in and out of the lineup because of a nagging lower-body injury, Joe Pavelski has been searching for a good fit on the wing.

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In recent games, Benn and Pavelski tried to forge their own chemistry, but that wasn't working. So on Thursday, the Stars coaching staff moved Pavelski from center to right wing and put him on a line with Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson. Hintz and Robertson already were clicking together, and Pavelski is a smart play-maker with a variety of good shots, so the move made sense.
Boom, instant chemistry.

The trio accounted for three goals and five assists in a 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning and showed that maybe this is something the hobbled Stars could ride for a while.
"We know there's certainly been chemistry with Robo [Robertson] and Roope all year, so a lot of times the chemistry of a line is a duo," Bowness said. "But with Pavs and the experience he has and the offensive instincts he has, it was a good fit tonight."
Pavelski credited the two young forwards and their creativity and said he just tried to find a way to fit in.
"If you watch them, Roope is skating well and Robo has found his game and found his confidence with the puck and they are smart players," Pavelski said. "So, it was just inserting myself and keeping up. We found some moments where we had the puck on some turnovers and made some plays."

Pavelski scored on a pretty power-play goal, but was also huge on two assists that came late in the second and third periods. After the Stars tied the game at 2-2 late in the second, Pavelski found Robertson wide open in the slot, and he roofed a shot with 15 seconds left in the period. That gave Dallas a massive boost in momentum. But then, after Tampa Bay tied the game in the third, Pavelski helped start the dagger play. He made a pretty pass between his legs to Robertson, who fed Hintz flying up ice, and Hintz then finished off a breakaway for the game-winner with 1:21 left in regulation.
"I think he is a very cerebral player and I think he reads off both Roope and I up the ice," Robertson said of Pavelski. "He is a very smart player, obviously, and just knows where everyone is, especially when we turn the puck over, he knows where guys are and where defenseman are. Playing with Roope is fun, he is fast and he is great, but Pavs makes life easy on both Roope and I because he is a smart player and he knows what to do and gets the job done."
Of course, having Hintz in the lineup makes a huge difference. The 24-year-old center has been dealing with a nagging lower-body injury and will come in and out of the lineup, depending on how much the injury is hurting. In his past eight games, he has six goals and five assists for 11 points.
"It just shows the value of having Roope in our lineup every night," Bowness said. "The difference it makes … and the games that he hasn't played, how much we have missed him."

Rookie goalie Jake Oettinger said Hintz continues to impress every game.
"He's one of the most under-appreciated players in the entire league. If he's not already, he's going to be one of the best players in the entire league," Oettinger said. "We're so lucky to have him. The thing I love the most about him is obviously he's got all of the offense you could ask for, but I think just the defensive side, he kills penalties, he blocks shots, does the little things and plays hard. That's what you need. There are a lot of guys that are all skill, but to have a guy of his caliber care about the defensive zone is huge. That's what you need to win, guys like him."
The hope is he can stay in the lineup and the chemistry of the line can continue to grow.
"We found some moments where we had the puck on some turnovers and made some plays," Pavelski said. "It was a good win, we need to get those. It's been a little bit too long this year, so we need to keep building off of that."

Class again in session for young Oettinger

Much of the discussion around the 22-year-old rookie Oettinger has been about how much he is learning each game. He has started four games in a row, he has started on back-to-back nights, he has been baptized in the waters of both overtime and the shootout.
So when Oettinger gave up two quick rebound goals in the second period Tuesday against Tampa Bay, he found himself in another classroom. He could let the mistakes get to him or he could learn from them and respond. He did the latter, making some incredible saves, including a paddle stop on Ondrej Palat all alone in front of the net with a chance to make the score 3-1 midway through the second period.
"I think Jake's save there with the paddle changed the game for us," said Pavelski. "It kept us right there, and then we get the power play goal and end the second with the lead. Obviously, game changing."
Oettinger said it was a reaction to a great shot by Palat.

"It's just such a tough play," Oettinger said. "He's such a good player and has a lot of time. I just tried to stay patient as long as I could. I just tried to put everything I had back there and, thankfully, it hit my paddle. A little bit of luck involved there, but you need luck a little bit, so it was nice."
Oettinger said getting that save helped boost his confidence.
"It's a huge lesson," he said. "It's human nature to get down, especially when they score two goals like that. We're in a hole against a really good team, but as we showed the entire year we can come back against anyone. …
"Every game is different, and that's one of the tough parts of being a goalie is you never know what's coming at you. So for me, just trying to be as comfortable in games where I'm getting a ton of work as ones where I'm not getting as much work is a lesson I'm learning a lot this year."

Moves like Miro

Miro Heiskanen has been the most used defenseman in the NHL during the month of March and on Thursday logged 25:19. He scored a beautiful goal on a breakaway that got the scoring started for Dallas in the second period, and really helped change the momentum of the game and give the Stars confidence to score against Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy.
"We needed that. We were playing well and getting all kinds of chances, but you look at the score clock and you say how can we be down 2-0 here?" Bowness said. "We are getting all of these grade-A's, but you know the respect I have for Vasilevskiy. To me, he is the best goalie in the league, and he was making a tremendous amount of saves on us, but we needed one, and Miro gave it to us."
It was just a small part of the good things Heiskanen continues to offer.

"Just a dominant performance from Miro tonight," Bowness said. "The way he can skate and control the game is fun to watch. We needed one and we needed to break the ice on (Vasilevskiy). We know he had the back-to-back shutouts on us, and we got three on him the last game, so we needed something to break the ice, and Miro was able to do that."
And with the Stars struggling in shootouts this season, Heiskanen won an audition to be in the three shooters the next time Dallas is faced with that challenge.
"I told Miro, 'Next time we get a shootout, I want to see that move,'" Bowness said.

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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.