Seguin proving all-around game can be just as important as goals

Everyone wants to be a goal scorer.
You get the fame, the money, the adoration.
And you also get the pressure.
Tyler Seguin understands that. He's been dealing with it a lot this season. But he also has found a way to live in the vacuum-packed fishbowl that is the Dallas Stars.
Play hard.

That's it. Do your work, play a complete game, and play hard. If he does that, the slippery, skilled center believes he can help his team win, and that's really why we're all here, right?

"Obviously, you can't judge based on statistics all of the time," Seguin said before Friday's 3-1 win over Minnesota. "Sometimes, you have to win games 1-0. Those are the games you appreciate when you get some good chances that don't maybe come through, but you find a way to win, and you find a way to contribute."
Seguin had one of his best defensive games of the season Wednesday in a 1-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres. On Friday, he came back with two goals in a huge victory that vaults the Stars into third place in the Central Division.
That gives Seguin 20 goals in 51 games, still behind the pace that netted him 40 last season. It also broke a run where he had just one goal in seven games. He's seen a few of those stretches this year, including a 12-game drought that is the longest he has had since joining the Stars in 2013.
And all of that has weighed on him.
The man who signed an eight-year contract extension before the season that will make him the highest paid player on the team knows a little bit about pressure. The Stars need to win now and they need Seguin and Jamie Benn to produce. So with Seguin 42nd in scoring (20 goals, 27 assists, 47 points) and Benn 90th (19 goals, 16 assists, 35 points), there has been some heat.
But Seguin seems to have decided he can still remain cool, and the past two games are a great example of how. In the 1-0 win, Seguin played 19:24, won 6-of-11 faceoffs and was outstanding defensively. Coach Jim Montgomery kept going to Seguin in the third period to help protect a one-goal lead, and the 27-year-old center did his job.

"I know my game is going well when I'm competing hard, winning battles, being first on pucks in my own zone, helping break pucks out and winning faceoffs," he said. "Those are big things that I judge my game on."
Of course, the two goals don't hurt either. The first came when Seguin was ferocious on the forecheck and just hammered a shot on goal from the right wall. The puck deflected in, and Dallas had a 2-1 lead with 7:42 left in the third period of a game that this team needed to win.
Minnesota was one point ahead in the standings, but was playing for the first time after the break. The Stars were at home and already had shaken the rust from their break. It was a perfect scheduling setup.
So when it was 1-1 in the third period, there was some tension there. But Seguin played his game, logged 19:02, won 13-of-25 faceoffs, and had no giveaways. Oh yeah, and the two goals too.
But, the real story was the other part of his game.
And that's a good thing.

Truth is, he's not always going to be able to score goals. He's going to go through hot streaks and cold streaks. But he can always play hard, he can always play well defensively, and he can always help his team find a way to win.
"That's what it's about," he said. It's hard to not have a good statistical year. I don't think I've ever had a slump like that, and I think that can set you back. That's one of your nightmares, really. But I think it made our team mentally tougher, not only myself, but everyone coming together and working together."
These past three games, the Stars have looked faster thanks to Andrew Cogliano, Roope Hintz and Denis Gurianov. And they have looked better defensively, in part because of what Seguin is doing.
That's pretty impressive for someone who has heard a lot about his lack of scoring this season
"I just try to focus on what is my teammates saying, what is my coach saying," Seguin said. "It's not always about getting that hat trick, it's about stopping those three chances against."
And he's been doing that pretty well lately.
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.