Heika’s Take: Reinforcements help Stars roll against Blue Jackets

It’s amazing how much easier it is to find consistency when you have all the pieces in place.

The Stars saw the return of Matt Duchene and Radek Faksa from injury on Thursday – and flipped from an odd 11-7 format with their lineup to the normal 12-6 – and came up with their biggest win in two weeks.

Dallas took a 5-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena, as Duchene finished with a goal and two assists, and Faksa had an assist while helping the fourth line to a very effective game.

“We’re more comfortable in that game and I thought Duchene’s line and Faksa’s line were our two best tonight,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “But when you have depth, that’s what you need, you need to have different lines step up on different nights.”

Faksa missed five games with an upper body injury, and that hurt the Stars. But when Duchene missed Monday’s game against Boston with an upper body injury, it really forced a lot of shuffling. DeBoer went with 11 forwards and seven defensemen - Jason Robertson jumped from line to line and played over 26 minutes, while Roope Hintz got 22 minutes in the 3-2 loss to Boston. On Thursday, no forward played more than 18 minutes.

That was huge in allowing Dallas to overcome a terrible start in which it was down 2-0 before the nine minute mark of the first period. The Stars were plagued by turnovers and sloppy play, and the Blue Jackets took advantage. Heck, it could have been worse, but goalie Jake Oettinger made a couple of big saves and was also helped by a Columbus shot that hit the post.

“I don’t think anyone liked our start tonight,” said Tyler Seguin, who played on a line with Duchene and Mason Marchment and finished with a goal, an assist, and a plus-3. “It’s an old tale right now, but we obviously found a way to get the job done.”

That’s also part of the early season narrative. The Stars have been outscored 6-13 in first periods but still sit 8-3-1. They are overcoming a lot of problems while still learning and improving. Dallas continues to have one of the worst power plays in the league and has hit a bump on its faceoff winning percentage, falling below 50 percent for the first time in years.

Still, when things look tough, they are finding ways. Duchene set up Marchment for a key goal midway through the first period that really changed momentum. The Stars controlled puck possession and shot attempt differential the rest of the way, and that kind of good play led to more goals. Craig Smith followed with a rebound goal off a Faksa shot to make it 2-2, and then Duchene scored on a breakaway to make it 3-2. Seguin added a nice redirection goal for a 4-2 lead, and then Robertson got in on the fun with an empty-net goal. It was just the third goal of the season for Robertson, who is coming off back-to-back 40+ goal campaigns.

That’s just another one of the numbers you can look at and say this team can be much better.

“We’ve been playing some good hockey as a group, but it’s crazy to think how much better we can play,” Seguin said. “The room for improvement is really big and that’s what you’ve got to be excited about. We’re finding ways to get points and we haven’t even come close to hitting that stride we know we can play at.”

The Duchene line might be the best example. It struggled early in the season as Duchene (who signed as a free agent in the summer) looked to build timing. Now, even after missing a game because of injury, the timing came back pretty quickly.

“Those guys, their game is awesome right now,” Duchene said. “Seggy was great tonight, Mush was great tonight, it’s easy to play with those guys when they’re making plays and getting you the puck. We played like that last game against this team and didn’t get rewarded like we should have, so tonight we were due for a night like that.”

DeBoer said Duchene, who has eight points in 11 games, has been a big reason for the success.

“He’s driving play for us right now,” DeBoer said. “He’s been our best player for a few weeks. Every time he’s on the ice, he’s demanding the puck and he’s attacking the middle of the ice and holes in the defense and creating room for other people. He’s just playing at a really high level right now.”

But he and his teammates know the challenges don’t get any easier. Dallas has games at Winnipeg on Saturday and at Minnesota on Sunday. Both are Central Division rivals and both are playoff teams from last season.

“Those games, you don’t sit on them,” Duchene said. “When you have a big night and the team wins, you’ve got to get ready for the next one. We’ve got two big tests against division teams. We have a target on our back. Every time we play, we’re going to get the other team’s best game. Columbus played hard. They were the better team in the first period tonight, so if we’re going to get everybody’s best, we have to be ready.”

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.