The Stars showed out in a match-up of two playoff teams on national television last night, beating the Kings 5-1 at home.

The Dallas Stars took it to the Los Angeles Kings 5-1 in the first of three meetings this season. The Kings were one of the stronger teams in the league at the beginning of the season, but Dallas caught them coming off a skid of 1-4-4 in their last nine. 

Head coach Pete DeBoer decided to shake up the lines going into this game, something he had been doing in the third period of previous games to get something going. The lines looked rather unconventional based on what they've done the past couple seasons.

Most notable was the top line of Jason Robertson, Joe Pavelski and Roope Hintz line not being together. Pavelski was replaced with Wyatt Johnston, and based on the small sample size, that change seemed to work as Hintz and Johnston both had goals and Robertson had an assist on both.

The Stars were able to get two quick goals in the first period, building a 2-0 lead at the end of one. 

However, in the second period, Dallas looked to have lost their groove a bit and couldn't put much offense together, getting out-shot, 16-8. Thanks to the stellar play of Jake Oettinger, the Kings could only muster one power play goal from Drew Doughty. It came on a rare delayed penalty situation where the Kings could pull their goalie already up a man and attack 6-on-4. 

Going into the third period at 2-1, Dallas figured it out and really started laying it on the Kings. Johnston and Pavelski got back-to-back goals within a minute of each other and to add insult to injury, the Stars got their fifth and final goal on the Kings power play.

Here are three takeaways from the game:

1. Separating the lines was beneficial to multiple players.

The Johnston, Jamie Benn and Evgenii Dadanov line has been struggling at times this season, especially compared to how well the three worked after the trade deadline last year. Johnston moved up with the top line and Dadanov slotted down to the fourth line with Craig Smith and Radek Faksa. Both Johnston and Dadonov had two point nights on their new lines.

The only line that didn't seem to have as much chemistry was the line of Pavelski, Benn and Sam Steel. Though Pavelski had a goal, he was out there in the middle of a change and was able to get some offense going with Dadonov and Thomas Harley.

2. Jake Oettinger had his best games since early in the season.

It is no secret that Oettinger has had an uncharacteristically down year compared to what he has been the last couple seasons. Then he went out with an injury and missed 12 games. But since he has been back, he has looked more like his old self. 

Oettinger ended the game with a .969% save percentage, stopping 32 of 33 shots on goal, including every single even strength shot. The goal he allowed came from a point shot on the power play, where he was screened by Jani Hakanpaa. 

Looking at the chart below, the most impressive part of Oettinger's performance is how many shots came from high-danger areas.

3. Stars penalty kill strikes again.

The Stars are now tied for first in short-handed goals with the Philadelphia Flyers and the Calgary Flames with 10. 

Steel's short-handed goal against the Kings came on a milestone night for him and Faksa, who made a perfect sauce pass over for Steel's one timer. It was Faksa's 600th game and Steel's 300th game. 

The two have been a big part of the penalty kill that sits third in the league at 84.9%, ranked third in the league only behind the Flyers and the Kings.

Both Faksa and Steel have two short-handed goals each and have linked up together for two of those.

The Stars have had some home cooking recently, with only three brief one game road trips since Christmas. That changes now with a 4 game road trip to the northeast, where the Philadelphia Flyers await the Stars arrival on Thursday.

The Stars have been excellent on the road this season, and need to continue to rack up victories with Winnipeg and Colorado continuing to find a way to win and stay ahead of Dallas in the Central Division.

Make sure you bookmark THN's Dallas Stars site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.

Matt Murray Recalled from Texas, Wedgewood day-to-day

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