The Dallas Stars have one of the best forward lines in the league with Jason Robertson, Joe Pavelski, and Roope Hintz. After that? Not much, and it hurts the team greatly when the top line can’t get on the scoreboard:
“We’ve got one goal the last two road games,” Bowness said. “That’s unacceptable, so we have to try things. Nothing is off the board, we’ll try anything to create some offense.”
Thus is the never-ending quest to find the best line combinations for Dallas, which includes inserting some new faces into the lineup. Marian Studenic made his Stars debut last game, and Jacob Peterson might get back into the lineup after being a healthy scratch in three of the last four:
“I thought he got a little tired last week, when we took him out,” Bowness said. “He’s not used to the grind of an NHL season and it became obvious. He’s had some time off now. Just need him to get the pace back up, where it was earlier. It’s understandable, your first year in the league. You’re used to playing 50 games and lots of practices, and it’s the exact opposite over here.”
You can read more in Matt DeFranks’ piece here.
Stars Stories
Back to that leading trio for a moment:
The Stars are back in the playoff mix, and they owe a lot of credit to their top line of Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz, and Joe Pavelski.
Wrote about the Stars’ leading trio for @Sportsnet https://t.co/7vDCKpq9lN
— Shayna (@hayyyshayyy) March 15, 2022
Dallas will try to snap their three game losing streak when they take on the Montreal Canadiens tonight:
It’s a pretty BIG holiday today… It’s @VictorEGreen‘s Birthday! 🥳
🆚 Montreal Canadiens
⏰ 6:00pm
📍 Bell Centre
📺 @BallySportsSW
📻 @dfwticket @Toyota | #TexasHockey pic.twitter.com/XkC0pbav3F— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) March 17, 2022
Around the League
In the only Central game last night, the Minnesota Wild prevailed 4-2 over the Boston Bruins:
thank you, GREEF. https://t.co/eF3osfWXTb
— Hockey Wilderness (@hockeywildernes) March 17, 2022
Trades are underway. First up, Ron Francis finally made a move, sending Calle Jarnkrok to the Calgary Flames for a few picks:
TRADE: The #SeaKraken have acquired a 2022 2nd round pick (acquired from FLA), a 2023 3rd round pick and a 2024 7th round pick from the @NHLFlames in exchange for forward Calle Jarnkrok.
Follow all of our Trade Deadline coverage → https://t.co/BteUmXsDLx pic.twitter.com/C6KDjbiSMj
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) March 17, 2022
Next, the Florida Panthers gave up a 2023 1st and more for… Ben Chiarot?
We have acquired defenseman Ben Chiarot from Montreal in exchange for prospect Ty Smilanic, a fourth-round pick in 2022, and a first-round pick in 2023.
📝 » https://t.co/vZCoWiVOVy pic.twitter.com/g5I8482duP
— Florida Panthers (@FlaPanthers) March 17, 2022
Someone who won’t be traded? Tomas Hertl, who signed an 8x$8M extension with the San Jose Sharks:
SHARK MUST BE ALWAYS!!! 🦈@TomasHertl48 IS BACK IN TEAL FOR EIGHT MORE YEARS!!!!
😀: https://t.co/BSoX1Ytv0I pic.twitter.com/PtIz7ePyDu
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) March 16, 2022
Elliotte Friedman talks about the looming deadline in his latest 32 Thoughts, including interest in Alexander Radulov from the New York Rangers:
In his latest 32 Thoughts, @FriedgeHNIC talks about the big deals for the Panthers & Flames, checks in on the Leafs goalies & sees who’s interested in the remaining big names heading toward the NHL trade deadline.
Presented by: @GMCcanada #GMCSierra #AT4https://t.co/f0vnR9XW1i
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) March 17, 2022
Everyone’s focused on the big names, but what about some underrated targets?
Trade season is in full swing around the #NHL!
While we wait to see where more top targets land, check out @wyshynski‘s list of under-the-radar names who could wind up being a steal:https://t.co/yCPgva5g4e
— Kristen Shilton (@kristen_shilton) March 17, 2022
Finally, the QMJHL is about to have a female player for the first time in over twenty years:
18-year-old Ève Gascon is set to make her @QMJHL debut for the @OlympiquesGAT on Saturday, becoming the first woman to play in the league since Charline Labonté over 20 years ago, writes @StevenEllisTHN: https://t.co/tMvitFRWb3
— The Hockey News (@TheHockeyNews) March 17, 2022