First Shift: Stars look to carry momentum into Game 4, even up series

Pete DeBoer made a ton of adjustments before Game 3.

He had to.

After losing Mason Marchment and Radek Faksa to injuries in Game 2, DeBoer had to draw in Craig Smith and Ty Dellandrea and shuffle the lines to make everything fit. Wyatt Johnston moved from center on the third line to right wing on the top line – a move that carried over from Game 2. Joe Pavelski moved from the top line right wing to the third line with Tyler Seguin (who moved from RW to center) and Evgenii Dadonov, who moved up from the fourth line. Matt Duchene moved from a line with Marchment and Seguin to centering Jamie Benn and Logan Stankoven in Johnston’s place. And both Smith and Dellandrea jumped onto the fourth line with Sam Steel.

That configuration combined with a huge amount of desperation to give the Stars their best game of the series. Dallas had a 16-4 advantage in shots on goal to start the game and finished with a 46-23 advantage. What’s more, they had a 108-69 differential in shot attempts and had twice as many quality scoring chances as the Golden Knights.

That’s important.

Dallas had been trying to solve the patient and frustrating Vegas structure, and they did that by playing very fast hockey with a lot of chemistry on lines that were kind of just thrown together. It was a great lesson in that maybe some of the more unusual ideas might work at this time of year.

So, could DeBoer and his coaching staff toss Marchment or Faksa back in if either is healthy? Could they try to see if AHL MVP Mavrik Bourque is ready to step into the pressure cooker with his first NHL playoff game? Will they use defenseman Nils Lundkvist more than the 2:21 he played in Game 3 or will they continue to ride a five-man rotation on defense?

“The game is all about adjustments, game to game in these playoff series,” DeBoer said Sunday. “Both coaches want to let the other watch film and figure out what the other is doing. Let’s make each other work a little bit. We make an adjustment, they’ll adjust to that, and we have to be prepared for that.”

Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said as much as strategic adjustments are important, so are emotional ones.

“We weren’t prepared to play,” Cassidy said. “I’ve said many times it’s a coach’s job to do that with the game plan, which needed to be better. But the individual has to prepare to win his races and battles. So let’s make sure we correct that for tomorrow and put this one behind us, but understand what we’re up against here.”

That’s the beauty of the playoffs, and the Stars saw it in one game. They dominated for 30 minutes, only took a 2-0 lead, and then watched Vegas tie it up and force overtime. The Stars answered the bell in OT and were the better team, eventually winning on a goal by Johnston, but in doing so, they understand just how hard it is going to be to come back and win Game 4.

“I think when you play a game like that, you feel this is a new series now,” DeBoer said. “We have a chance to really grab this back next game, so that should be our desperation level.”

Key Numbers

.927
Vegas goalie Logan Thomson has a .927 save percentage, fourth best in the playoffs.

34:09
That was the time on ice for Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen, most among any player. 

20 years, 349 days
Forward Wyatt Johnston became the youngest player in Stars history to score the game winner in an overtime playoff game at 20 years, 349 days. Steve Ott was the previous youngest in 2004 at 21 years, 237 days.

He Said It

“The lines gave us some juice. I think there were some guys who were feeling a little frustrated, not about our game, but about a lack of finish through the first two games, and I thought that gave us a little bump. I thought those guys gave us some good legs. It’s a skating series and both of those guys can go.”

- Stars coach Pete DeBoer on adding Smith and Dellandrea to the lineup for Game 3 with injured forwards Marchment and Faksa out. Both Faksa and Marchment are game-time decisions for Game 4

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.