The Dallas Stars sit in first place in the Central Division as they return to the American Airlines Center for their first home game after the All-Star break on Tuesday night.
One big reason for Dallas’ success so far this season has been the second-line combination of Tyler Seguin, Matt Duchene, and Mason Marchment, which leads the NHL in five-on-five goals.
“We’re having a lot of fun out there. That’s a big thing,” Marchment told the media on Monday. “We enjoy playing with each other, and the more talking we do out there, we’re just going to get better.”
Communication has been a significant component of the line’s success, so much so that head coach Pete DeBoer has pointed to the combination as an example for the rest of the team to follow.
“I think it’s great, and actually, we referenced them [when talking] with some other lines,” DeBoer said. “[We tell them,] ‘You guys should talk more between shifts and between games about what you can do better as a group,’ because the strength of these guys is in their combination of working off each other, not in their individual skill.”
All three players are among the top six goal-scorers on a deep team, and veterans Duchene and Seguin even contribute to the offensive game plan each day. Although, the head coach still considers their defense a work in progress.
“They’re students of the game,” DeBoer explained. “They want to know what the other team’s doing in all situations, and they do gameplan around that, offensively. I think they’ve gotten better defensively, [but] I’d like to see some more game-planning defensively.”
Meanwhile, Marchment, in his second year with the club, is on pace for a career year — already just two goals and six points shy of his career-highs from the 2021-22 season — which he credits to the help of his linemates.
“I just take it all in,” Marchment told the media. “They’re good conversations, all three of us. There’s no hard feelings or anything like that. It’s just talking and trying to evolve and get better.”
The Stars (32-14-6) enter Tuesday’s game against the Carolina Hurricanes (30-16-5) on a three-game losing streak and will need a great effort from all four lines. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.