CALGARY, Alberta - Maybe it’s the snappy white uniforms.
Maybe it’s the chance to play the villain.
Maybe he prefers being the hunted rather than the hunter.
Whatever the case, Tyler Seguin is tearing it up on the road this season. He leads the league with 20 points in 12 road games, including 11 of his 13 goals this season. On Saturday, he started the Stars’ four-game road trip off on the right skate when he popped in the overtime winner against Minnesota.
It was the kind of thing that has happened to him on the road more this season, where he received a perfect pass from linemate Jamie Benn, and he pretty much had to shoot. At home, he has tried to be more cautious, more selective, but things have just clicked on the road.
“I think maybe I shoot the puck more on the road, it is a simpler game,” Seguin said. “Honestly, though, it really doesn’t seem that different to me. I think maybe they’re just going in on the road.”
There are some interesting theories you can ponder, though. Stars coach Lindy Ruff has been using the top line more in a defensive role this season and has been asking Seguin, Jamie Benn and Patrick Sharp to be strong checkers against the opposing team’s best scorers. Because Ruff gets to match lines more at home, the message seems clear that those players are the hunters.
“I’ve been thinking a lot more about my D-zone coverage, and that’s probably more a concern at home just because of the way we’re used,” Seguin said.
On the road, the Benn, Seguin and Sharp line typically draws the other team’s best defenders, and that allows them to concentrate a little more on offense. Still, Seguin is the outlier in the group. Benn has 12 of his 18 goals at home. Sharp has 13 points at home and seven on the road.
“It’s probably just a small sample size and might be a little bit of a fluke,” said Sharp. “If anything, it’s a credit to Seggy, because he’s getting the other team’s best players on the road, and he’s finding a way to succeed even though he has to fight through that.”
Sharp said he does notice Seguin improving his all-around game. The 23-year-old center worked hard in recent years to improve faceoff success, and he currently sits second on the Stars at 55.9 percent. Now, he’s turning that focus to his two-way play.
“I’ve watched him from both sides, and I think he is getting better,” Sharp said of seeing Seguin as an opponent and as a teammate. “I think you look at something like his faceoffs, and he found a way to improve a lot in a short time. He’s a guy who works every day to make himself better, and you love to see that.”
Does that explain scoring 11 of 13 goals on the road in the first 24 games? Probably not. But whatever the case, it’s helping the Stars win. Dallas has the best road record in the NHL at 10-2-0, and that’s been a key with three four-game road trips in the first 27 games of the season.
Had the Stars not been able to find success as the visitor, things might not be going as smoothly as they are for Dallas.
“If you’re winning, it helps,” Ruff said of the road. “The road trips can bring a team together. We’ve played a pretty good brand of hockey on the road, and we want to continue that.”
On Twitter: @MikeHeika