Hintz, who
previously missed time this season
due to injury, entered Wednesday's contest third on the team in goals (four) and fifth in points (10). He finished Monday's 3-1 loss to Florida with three shots on goal, one hit and a minus-1 rating in 19:12 of ice time -- the highest among all Dallas forwards.
Hintz's absence -- along with winger Alexander Radulov, who remains on injured reserve with a lower-body injury and isn't expected back until sometime after the Stars return to American Airlines Center for a lengthy home stay next week -- forced coach Rick Bowness to tweak his lineup.
Here's how the team skated during pregame warmup:
Joel Kiviranta - Jason Dickinson - Joe Pavelski
Jamie Benn - Radek Faksa - Denis Gurianov
Andrew Cogliano - Rhett Gardner - Blake Comeau
Jason Robertson - Justin Dowling - Nick Caamano
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Jamie Oleksiak - Miro Heiskanen
Andrej Sekera - Mark Pysyk
Anton Khudobin
Jake Oettinger
"We've been trying to find a replacement for Rads and now we're trying to figure out something without Roope," Bowness said.
Among the adjustments, Nick Caamano and Rhett Gardner entered the lineup after being called up from the taxi squad before the game. Caamano registered a pair of hits in 10 minutes of playing time, and Gardner was credited with a hit and a blocked shot in 8:31.
Bowness praised Caamano's energy boost following Dallas' victory, which snapped a six-game winless skid.
"That's what he's there for," Bowness said. "He's a great skater, he's a physical player. He gets the puck in and they know he's coming, so, very, very happy with Nick's performance tonight. That's why we have him in the lineup."
Dallas finishes its back-to-back with the Panthers on Thursday at 6 p.m. CT before making the short trip to Tampa to kick off a home-and-home rematch with the defending Stanley Cup champion Lightning on Saturday at Amalie Arena and Tuesday at the AAC.
This post has been updated.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Jeff Odom is the editor of DallasStars.com and writes about the Stars/NHL. Follow him on Twitter @jeffodom.
