In a span of two nights, Radek Faksa saw plenty of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Phil Kessel - and he still helped the Stars to back-to-back wins against Chicago and Pittsburgh.

Maybe it's time to start talking about the Stars center as a candidate for the Selke Trophy, given to the best defensive forward in the NHL.

The quintet combined for one goal and one assist and were a combined even in plus-minus over the two games, while Faksa finished with one assist, was plus-3, and went 22-12 (64.7 percent) in the faceoff circle. It was a strong statement about where the 24-year-old center is in his career.

"Radek did a heck of a job, and that was a big load for that line," Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said of Faksa's work against the Penguins Friday. "Most of the shifts, you're not going to have the puck. You're going to have to check and you're going to have to be really determined and play through big bodies."

Faksa, who has been a consistent scorer this season with 12 goals and 13 assists for 25 points, said he is learning to balance offense and defense under the new coaching staff.

"You have to make smart decisions," Faksa said. "You would rather choose the smarter play than trying to score. Sometimes, you could get more offense, but you can't do that against players like that, because if you get a turnover, they will punish you."

That attitude is one of the reasons the Stars are becoming one of the best defensive teams in the NHL, and it's also a sign of maturity for Faksa. The 13th overall pick in the 2012 draft, Faksa is starting to find a nice role after 180 regular season games. He's the guy who gets the toughest assignment, and he's the guy who wants the toughest assignment.

"I think he's been a guy who had a little bit of a slow start, but he's just continued to grow and get better," said Stars assistant coach Stu Barnes. "He's a hard guy to play against, he's great on faceoffs, he's a big strong guy with a little bit of a mean streak. He's anchored that line, and he's had that checking role that he has really played well."

The Stars checking line has been a good fit for Faksa. Wingers Antoine Roussel and Tyler Pitlick bring both speed and physicality to match Faksa's, so the trio seems to be on the same page most nights. "I definitely think we know what the others want to do," Pitlick said. "I think you

work hard and the chemistry builds."

It's building around Faksa, who leads the team in plus-minus at plus-24, and also has improved his faceoff winning percentage from 48.3 percent last season to 53.6 percent this year. He's also got just 12 giveaways to 23 takeaways this season, so he's making good decisions with the puck.

"Faksa's done a great job for us," Hitchcock said. "He's gotten so much better over a short period of time."

And now when he gets placed on the ice against the opposition's best, he's not intimidated. That said, he still retains a healthy respect for the severity of the challenge.

"They're the best player in the world, so sometime they will make some play and there's nothing you can do about it. So you just have to play your hardest and get the last opportunity," Faksa said. "It's fun, but it's a big responsibility. I never dreamed that I could play against guys like that, but I love it."

Twitter: @MikeHeika