Coach Lindy Ruff said he is going to shake up his forward lines as the Stars open a four-game road trip in St. Louis tonight. Ruff said he'll go with lines similar to what the Stars used on their last lengthy road trip when they picked up six of a possible ten points (2-1-2).
"We're shaking the whole thing up. We're going to go with the lines we were successful with on our last road trip," Ruff said. "We are going with a four-line approach, divvy up the ice time. We've got back-to-back games, four [games] in six [nights]. We've got a tough haul, and we're finishing off a tough haul. The idea is to try to not overplay and keep the energy of this team up."
The Stars didn't run lines this morning, so it's not clear what Ruff will roll out tonight. But on that last road trip, Ruff had Radek Faksa centering Jamie Benn and Lauri Korpikoski and Tyler Seguin at center with Antoine Roussel and Patrick Eaves on his wings. He'll have more options this time around with Jason Spezza, Patrick Sharp, and Cody Eakin all back from the injured list.
On defense, Patrik Nemeth will draw back in tonight for Dan Hamhuis, who is expected to sit out as a healthy scratch along with Stephen Johns, who is back after playing two games in the AHL over the weekend. With a busy week ahead, Ruff said he expects to use all his defensemen.
"There are a couple things in play. We really feel we are going to keep using eight defensemen," Ruff said. "With Johns, if I play him tonight and I play him tomorrow [in Detroit], that's four games in five nights and his energy level won't be there. You pick which game you want to get him in. Nemeth is a big, strong defenseman that we want to get back in the lineup. It's an opportunity for him to step in and try to get something done for us."
Antti Niemi was the first goaltender off the ice for the Stars this morning, so he is expected to get the start in goal tonight. It will be the second straight start for Niemi, who was sharp in stopping 30 shots in Friday's 2-1 win over Vancouver on Friday. Niemi has been excellent at home this season with a 5-1-1 record, 1.98 goals-against average and .936 save percentage. It's been a different story on the road, where he is 0-1-1 with a 5.55 GAA and .846 SV% in three starts. Ruff said that road record is not all on Niemi.
"I think it is a team responsibility. It's not just the goalie's responsibility," Ruff said. "We need better support from the front to the back helping out the goaltenders and not making those mistakes that we've made."
The Stars (9-8-5) are attempting to win consecutive games for just the second time this season. The Stars are 1-5-2 following wins this season.
Shaking things up
Ruff expected to juggle forward lines as Stars open four-game road trip in St. Louis
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