DALLAS _ When Stars coach Jim Montgomery constructed his lineup for Dallas' 4-2 win over Winnipeg on Saturday night, it was partly to match up with the Jets' deep forward group. But one thing jumped out on paper _ and then on the ice. The Stars were fast.
For parts of this season, in which the Stars enter the bye week and All-Star break in a playoff position with a 24-21-4 record, Dallas has looked slow or tentative. Montgomery said sometimes the team is thinking too much. They aren't able to stretch the ice, or forecheck the way they need to be successful. Sometimes, the bodies just weren't there to provide the speed needed in today's NHL.
On Saturday, they were, showcasing the style and pace Montgomery and the Stars are capable of employing. In doing so, they snapped a four-game losing streak and entered the 10-day break with a victory instead of a five-game losing streak.
Brett Ritchie, Blake Comeau, Radek Faksa and Tyler Seguin all scored for the Stars, while goaltender Ben Bishop made 27 saves to earn the win.
"I thought we played fast because we were simple, almost predictable out there," Stars captain Jamie Benn said. "I think that's the way we have to play. We don't have all the skill in the world, but we have enough skill to make plays once we get it in. We did a good job of that tonight."
The Stars' speed was evident in many facets of the game. Roope Hintz, Denis Gurianov, Comeau and Andrew Cogliano all had breakaways. None resulted in goals, but Cogliano drew a penalty on his. Miro Heiskanen had a partial breakaway that was denied.
Faksa's goal came off the rush, and Gurianov flashed his skating by breaking up a short-handed chance by backchecking hard. The Stars skated well enough to draw seven minor penalties.
"You'd like to be able to stretch the ice and have speed," Montgomery said. "It's the way the game's played right now. The Penguins won two Cups in a row playing with that speed, stretch game. The best teams that are scoring a lot are teams that are doing that. Toronto does it at a high level."
Montgomery said it was one of the fastest games for the Stars this season.
"We play well, we look fast," he said.
Benn attributed the speed to simplifying the game more. The Stars scored just three times in their now-extinct four-game losing streak as their offense continued to dive towards the bottom of the league. Seguin said previously that the team was trying to be too fancy.
So entering Saturday night against the Jets, the message was easy: keep it simple.
"I think especially when you're going through a tough time like we are _ we were coming into tonight, that was the message, to keep is simple and I thought we all did a great job of that," Benn said.
"The players said it, when we're a good hockey team, we're skating, we're forechecking, we're reloading, our shifts are short," Montgomery said. "They know what our identity is when we play to it."
Having the players to do it also helps. Since the last time the Stars played Winnipeg less than two weeks ago, they added three new pieces to their lineup. Out were Devin Shore (traded), Tyler Pitlick (injured) and Erik Condra (sent to the AHL). In were Andrew Cogliano, Denis Gurianov and Jason Dickinson.
All three additions brought speed with them into the lineup, and Montgomery was careful to sprinkle the speed throughout his lineup.
Mattias Janmark was on the top line with Seguin. Cogliano and Dickinson were together, as were Gurianov and Hintz. It created a balance of speed throughout the lineup that was perhaps missing before. Becoming faster was a big reason why general manager Jim Nill acquired Cogliano from Anaheim this week.
"Combine that with Janmark on another line and you have someone that can stretch the ice and actually beat people," Montgomery said before the game. "Even if they're not in behind them, they can beat them to the loose pucks in behind them because of their speed.
"It's definitely advantageous for the way we want to play."
