How the Stars have navigated the absence of Pavelski

Adversity is visiting the Stars early in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Not only did Dallas lose Game 1 at home to Minnesota in double overtime, they lost forward Joe Pavelski to an injury. Pavelski was hit hard by Minnesota defenseman Matt Dumba in the second period. He left the game and did not return. The Stars held meetings at American Airlines Center on Tuesday, but Pavelski did not attend.

"He seems okay, but we left him at home," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said.

Pavelski was blindsided by Dumba on a play that drew a two-minute penalty, and DeBoer said Pavelski also hit his head on the ice. While the 38-year-old forward looked shaky as trainers led him to the dressing room, DeBoer said he could not confirm that Pavelski might be in the NHL's concussion protocol.
"I don't have anything like that yet," DeBoer said. "I'll let you know as soon as I have anything firm."
That said, it seems reasonable to wonder if Pavelski will miss Wednesday's Game 2 in Dallas. The Stars lost Pavelski midway through the second period and played the remainder of the game without him. They also lost forward Max Domi for 12 minutes after Domi fought Dumba following the hit. Still, the team played some of its best hockey while shuffling lines in the third period and overtime. Dallas had a 30-19 advantage in shots on goal past the second period and had several chances to end the game in overtime.
However, they simply couldn't come up with the key goal.
"It's tough when you lose a guy like Joe and then you lose Domi for a while, as well," said rookie Wyatt Johnston, who finished with seven shots on goal in 26:18 of ice time. "We just had to adjust. We've had the chance to play with a bunch of different players this year, kind of everyone, and I think as the game went on, we got more confident."

DeBoer juggled a bunch of his lines, but it looks like he settled on Tyler Seguin as a replacement for Pavelski at right wing on the top line with Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson. That would leave the second line of Jamie Benn and Evgenii Dadonov around Johnston, but potentially mix the third and fourth lines. With Seguin moved up, there is a chance Ty Dellandrea could move up to a line with Domi and Mason Marchment, and then Joel Kiviranta could take Dellandrea's place on a line with Radek Faksa and Luke Glendening. That's all speculation, of course, but the Stars do seem to have options if Pavelski can't play.
"In playoffs, you have all sorts of adversity and it's a next-man-up mentality," Seguin said. "So, we'll miss him, but we'll do everything we can to fill that void."
Seguin subbed in for an injured Hintz at center earlier in the season and said that taking Pavelski's place on the right wing isn't that different.
"You go out there and do your job no matter who you're with," Seguin said. "Focus on details, that's all you can do at this time of the year. You focus on the next shift and staying in the moment."

Officials at the game originally gave Dumba a five-minute major for the hit, but then changed it to a two-minute minor after a review with the NHL. It was reported on Tuesday that Dumba also won't receive any discipline from NHL Player Safety. So that said, the Stars are simply preparing for Game 2 and moving past the hit.
Seguin was asked about the hit on Tuesday and said, "I don't know if he's, per se, trying to knock out Joe. But it was dangerous, it was late. What Pete said after the game, I agree with it. The refs have got an incredibly hard job to do and they're the best in the world at what they do, so you've got to respect their judgement at times."
And while they can't do anything about the injury or the hit, they can control how they respond.
"You want to rally around it," Seguin said. "It leaves a pit your stomach when things like that happen. It's emotional. It's a hard guy to lose and we've got to do what we can to respond for him."
Pavelski played in all 82 games during the regular season and was third on the team in scoring with 77 points (28 goals, 49 assists). He was second among forwards in time on ice for the Stars at 17:48 and led the NHL in plus-minus at plus-42. In addition to all his work on the ice, Pavelski and his family have taken in Johnston for the entire season. Johnston said Pavelski was in "good spirits" when they got home early on Tuesday morning.
"I mean, obviously it was a big hit, and I think everyone kind of saw the aftermath," Johnston said. "But, yeah, I mean, he was in pretty good spirits. I was able to talk to him a bit and happy to see that he's kind of just doing his regular things."
If they have to play without Pavelski, the challenge will be real.
When asked how important Pavelski is to the No. 1 power play unit that scored two goals in Game 1, DeBoer said, "I mean, how important is Joe to every situation he plays in for our group? It's this time of year, that's what you deal with, next man up and you have to handle that adversity."
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