Game plan the same for Jets despite Stars demoting Benn to second line

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This article was published 19/01/2019 (2422 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

DALLAS — The Dallas Stars will toss a curve ball at the Winnipeg Jets tonight.

Stars coach Jim Montgomery told reporters this morning he’s removing left-winger Jamie Benn from his top line and inserting Mattias Janmark alongside centre Tyler Seguin and right-winger Alexander Radulov.

Game time at American Airlines Center is 6 p.m.

Benn, the Stars’ top goal-scorer (18) joins centre Radek Faksa and Blake Comeau on the second forward unit.

Jets coach Paul Maurice said that won’t alter the plan for his forwards tonight as his club goes for its fifth win in a row prior to the league-mandated bye week and the All-Star weekend festivities in San Jose.

“No, we won’t change. We’ll probably have to watch it early because as soon as they start changing the coach starts thinking about running (Jason) Dickinson or Faksa against (Mark Scheifele) instead of Seguin. We have (Adam) Lowry then, but they’ll work hard to not have Seguin play against Lowry.

“Sometimes you spend all that time trying to get the right forward matchup when the (defence) matchup is probably the most important thing that you work at anyway. We’ll have lots of plans, we’ll watch the first two rotations through and go from there.”

Maurice is counting on the exact same lineup that posted an impressive 5-1 victory over the host Nashville Predators on Thursday night. Connor Hellebuyck, fresh off a 37-save effort, returns to the crease tonight.

Defenceman Ben Chiarot (lower body) is on the trip but will miss his third straight game for Central Division-leading Winnipeg (31-14-2).

The Stars (23-21-4) will start veteran netminder Ben Bishop between the pipes.

Sami Niku and Joe Morrow had two assists apiece in Nashville and are on the Jets third defensive pairing again tonight. They were tidy in their own end against the rugged, hard-checking Preds and moved the puck effectively — each finishing plus-four.

“It made it really fun. It made it super enjoyable to be able to get that contribution from guys that may not play that much, especially against a team like that. To be able to gain some confidence from the coaching staff, from everybody, to kind of prove yourself and be able to work through any adversity that comes your way is good,” said Morrow, who had just one assist in 27 games prior to Thursday’s win.

He said he’s enjoying skating alongside the dynamic Finn and watching the 22-year-old gain confidence.

“I just try and talk to him, try to keep him positive. If you make a mistake, it’s not the end of the world. When I was younger, I’d be gripping my stick a little bit too tight and scared to make a mistake… like one mistake and you’re out of here,” said Morrow. “But he has awesome confidence to him, and as long as he stays positive and we build off each other I think that’s what’s brought us success the last couple of games and I think that’s the key to moving forward here.

“I think confidence breeds success, and in a hockey player like that when you’re playing well you’re more comfortable and you’re excited and, obviously, more involved in the play. That being said, every game that he gets in consistently and one after the other he’ll keep getting better and better.”

Injured blue-liner Dustin Byfuglien has been skating and could return after the break or likely within a week after that. Nikolaj Ehlers (upper body) is still likely two or three weeks away from rejoining the club.

Maurice will command the bench for the Central Division squad during the All-Star mini-tournament next Saturday. This morning, he let the cat out of the bag on one of his top offensive partnerships.

“I’m looking forward to watching Mark (Scheifele) and Blake (Wheeler) together. There’s the first scouting tip on the game — those two guys will play together. I’m looking forward to watching those guys have fun. They’ve earned it. Those two guys drive the bus here and they earn it,” he said.

“I get to go as more of a representative of our whole staff and organization, from the ownership to the trainers, because we got to first place at the halfway mark.”

Scheifele, 11th in NHL points production, said he’s excited about his first trip to the NHL’s showcase weekend.

“It’s an honour to play in the All-Star Game, my first one so I’m pretty pumped,” said Winnipeg’s top centre, who has 25 goals and 33 assists, and has suited up for all 47 games. “It will be a nice few days off before that and then a lot of excitement in San Jose.”

It will be the second all-star appearance for Wheeler, the Jets captain who has nine goals and 51 assists. Only Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov has more helpers (54).

 

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell