After a loss to open the round robin on Monday, the Stars are trying to spark their two highest-paid players: Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin.
Stars interim coach Rick Bowness said the team tweaked its forward lines during practice on Tuesday, putting Roope Hintz between Benn and Seguin, and moving Denis Gurianov with Jason Dickinson and Corey Perry.
“We’re trying to get Jamie and Tyler going a little bit,” Bowness said. “Roope was having a really good game yesterday. He missed a couple shifts in the first period because of the penalty kill. But we’ve got to try something different. We’re willing to try that.”
In a 5-3 loss to Vegas, Benn and Seguin skated alongside Gurianov, and the line was the Stars’ worst of the night. In 11:22 with the trio together at 5 on 5, the Stars were outshot 9-0 by Vegas. None of the three registered a shot on goal, despite Gurianov’s attempts on the power play and Seguin’s chance late in the game at 6 on 5. Benn, Seguin and Gurianov were all minus-3.
Seguin was not credited with a shot attempt for the first time since Jan. 20, 2018, and it was only the fifth time since he was traded to Dallas that he failed to attempt a shot.
“That line was a little rusty and a little out of sync, so we’ll sit down with them tomorrow and see if we can get them in a better groove,” Bowness said Monday night. “They were out of whack, there’s no question.”
Hintz had two shots on goal Monday and was the team’s most dangerous forward during the exhibition against Nashville on Thursday. He scored 19 goals in the regular season.
Seguin ($9.85 million) and Benn ($9.5 million) carry the largest cap hits on the Stars, and are coming off regular seasons in which both had their worst seasons — by point production — since their rookie seasons.
When sorted by salary in the 2019-20 season, Seguin ($13.5 million) ranks eighth in the NHL and Benn ($13 million) ranks ninth.
“Your top players, even if they don’t produce points, they have to give your team momentum,” Bowness said. “They didn’t have a very good game. We have to count on them being a lot better tomorrow. If we want to win this thing, then we’re going to have to count on those guys being a lot better.”
-- Bowness did not disclose who his starting goaltender would be for Wednesday’s game against Colorado. Ben Bishop allowed four goals on 32 shots Monday against Vegas. The Stars final round robin game is Sunday against St. Louis.
