How Stars' lineup looks for Game 4 could hinge on Comeau's health

Game 4: Stars vs. Lightning (Tampa Bay leads 2-1)

Blake Comeau's health could have a lot to do with how the Stars line up Friday night in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Comeau, who missed Game 3 with an injury, has been skating and is a game-time decision. If he's available, it would be very easy to see interim coach Rick Bowness putting Comeau on a line with Jamie Benn. He did that earlier in the playoffs and received some of Benn's best games.
Now, Radek Faksa was healthy back then, and he won't play tonight, but still a line with Benn, Jason Dickinson and Comeau could be the first step in Dallas getting back to its checking roots. That was missing in Game 3, along with plenty of details.
So would Bowness break up the top line of Benn, Tyler Seguin and Alexander Radulov in order to give his lineup a jolt?
"Well, we're just going to have to see what it looks like tonight," Bowness said. "They had some really good looks last game, but it didn't go in. So … we'll have to see what it looks like tonight."

The top line was good in the first period of Game 3 as Dallas had a 16-8 advantage in shots on goal. But Radulov took two minor penalties, Benn took a 10-minute misconduct, and the flow fell apart. Mix in the fact none of the three have a goal in the first three games of the Final (and Seguin hasn't tallied a marker in 12 games) and maybe it is time to break things ups.
The return of Comeau might clinch that decision.
Radulov has played well with Joe Pavelski in the playoffs, so it would be easy to imagine a line with Mattias Janmark, Pavelski and Radulov. Put Benn on the checking line, and then you could look for a spot for Seguin. If you wanted to get Seguin's speed going, you could put him on a line with Denis Gurianov and Roope Hintz or if you wanted to reunite Hintz and Gurianov with Joel Kiviranta, you could put Seguin with Andrew Cogliano and Corey Perry.
There are options out there.
Either way, key players have to step up.
"We've had our chances that haven't gone in, and obviously we need more, as well," Seguin said. "It's the oldest cliché' of all time - your top players have got to be your top players - so you've got to find some production here."

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Stars have to be both intense, composed at same time

The Stars were bad in Game 3. They gave away scoring chances, they took penalties at the wrong time, and they made team mistakes like bad line changes. That's a lot to process.
But as they try to correct all of that, they also need to find a way to do it calmly.
"I think you want the intensity with composure," Seguin said.

"I think we got away from our structure a bit. We've had great periods in this series so far - we had a great first last game - but we haven't had a full 60-minute Dallas Stars hockey game yet. That's what we're looking for right now."
Bowness said he has seen his team regain its composure after bad game.
"It's a little bit of everything - just getting back to the way we need to play to be successful," Bowness said. "We beat ourselves the other night, but you move on. We've got to get our structure back and we've got to get our mentality back. The details of our game have to be there for 60 minutes, and that's been lacking.
"We know what we have to do, and we need to get prepared to do it, it's as simple as that."

Back-to-back a big issue that must be set aside

Because of the bubble situation, the NHL is playing a back-to-back in the Stanley Cup Final. Everyone wants to get out of there quickly, TV traditionally wants a Saturday night game, and nobody wants to go head-to-head with the NFL on Sunday, so Saturday it is.
That poses all sorts of questions in terms of do you use your depth for Saturday and how do you deal with goalies. Both coaches said all of those questions will wait until after Game 4.
"You can't look at Saturday without playing Friday," Lightning coach Jon Cooper said. "You do all your prep, you put the 20 players out there you feel will give you the best chance to win on Friday, and see what happens. You wake up Saturday and deal with Saturday then."
It makes sense, especially with Game 4 such a big swing. If Dallas wins, the series is 2-2. If the Lightning win, it's 3-1 in favor of Tampa Bay. That's a huge deal.
"We'll be doing everything we can to win that game," Bowness said. "We don't want to fall down 3-1. Saturday's a whole other discussion we'll have after Friday. Right now, Saturday's the least of our concerns."

Steven Stamkos will not play in Game 4 for Tampa Bay, but coach Cooper did not rule him out for other games in the series.
Ben Bishop has been skating in practice, but has not even dressed for a game or taken warmup since allowing four goals on 19 shots against Colorado on Aug. 31. Stars backup goalie Jake Oettinger, 21, has played 37 minutes in mop-up duty twice and stopped all eight shots he has faced. So could he be ready if needed?
"He's had two periods. He hasn't had a lot of work. That's all we have to go on," Bowness said. "We have all the faith in the world in Jake. He looks great in practice, and we know if his name is called, he'll be ready to go. We have a lot of faith in him."
For Tampa Bay, Andrei Vasilevskiy has played every second of the playoffs. Curtis McElhinney went 8-7-3 during the regular season. He is 37 and played last season for Carolina in the playoffs. Still, the guess is Vasilevskiy starts both games.
"I think the back-to-backs in the playoffs can't be judged the way back-to-backs can in the regular season, in my opinion," Cooper said. "You're taking travel out of it. Will things change if (Game 4) goes into five overtimes? Who knows? There are aspects that we go through that have us make these decisions.
"(Vasilevskiy) will be in the net (for Game 4), and when you get to this part of the season, you need your big boys to be there for you, and they have, all playoffs long. I just don't see why we would need to change that."

By the numbers

0.51

Since joining the Stars in 2013, Seguin has averaged 0.96 points per game during the regular season (514 points in 538 games). In the playoffs, he is averaging 0.51 points per game (22 points in 43 games).

8-1

Not that it makes that much difference, but Tampa Bay is 8-1 "on the road" in these playoffs and 8-5 at home. While all games are played at Rogers Place in Edmonton, teams at home do get the last change and coaches get the matchup they are seeking. Dallas is the "home team" tonight. The Stars are 5-5 at home and 9-5 on the road.

22

That's the franchise record for shots against in a period, set in 2000 against the Edmonton Oilers. The Stars tied that record in the third period of Game 1 against Tampa Bay and then allowed 21 shots in the second period of Game 3.

He said it

"He's been solid. He's been consistent. He's been doing everything you want your starting goaltender to do to give you a chance to win the game. He doesn't have to do anything better. He doesn't have to do anything different. He just has to keep doing what he's doing."
-- Bowness on Anton Khudobin, who has allowed eight goals in the past two games

Stars projected lineup

Mattias Janmark - Joe Pavelski - Alexander Radulov
Jamie Benn - Jason Dickinson - Blake Comeau
Joel Kiviranta - Roope Hintz - Denis Gurianov
Andrew Cogliano - Tyler Seguin - Corey Perry
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Jamie Oleksiak - Miro Heiskanen
Joel Hanley - Andrej Sekera
Anton Khudobin
Jake Oettinger
Unfit to Play: Stephen Johns, Ben Bishop, Radek Faksa
Scratched:Justin Dowling, Jason Robertson, Ty Dellandrea, Thomas Harley, Nick Caamano, Gavin Bayreuther, Landon Bow
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.