A lineup shuffle produced stunning results for the Stars on Friday in a 5-0 win over the New York Islanders, but coach Ken Hitchcock said the real test for his team awaits on the road.

Dallas will play at Carolina on Monday, at Florida on Tuesday and at Tampa Bay on Thursday. That's a pretty rough schedule for a team currently 3-5-0 away from home.

"We need to win on the road to keep pace with everything that is going on," Hitchcock said of a tough Western Conference playoff race. "We have to have a better road record if we expect to be a playoff team."

The 9-7-0 Stars currently hold one of the wild-card playoff spots in the West after 16 games, and Hitchcock said one of his team's early-season goals is to be in the playoffs after 20 games. This trip will be key in that.

Of course, just as important is building unity and finding the right chemistry in the first year under a new coaching staff. Hitchcock made massive changes to his forward lines for the last game, moving Jamie Benn to center with Alexander Radulov and Gemel Smith and flanking Tyler Seguin with Mattias Janmark and Devin Shore. The top line of Benn-Seguin-Radulov has been one of the hottest scoring lines in the NHL, but Hitchcock said the Stars need more balance.

"We weren't getting it done with one line," he said. "That line was playing well, but we weren't winning hockey games, and we're in the winning business."

Hitchcock said Tyler Pitlick will return from an upper-body injury that kept him out for two games, and that could force a change on the third or fourth line.

However, the real challenge on the road will probably focus on defense and goaltending. Dallas ranks second in the NHL at home in goals against average (1.75) and third in save percentage (.934). The Stars rank 25th on the road at 3.63 and 27th at .883.

Hitchcock said Ben Bishop will start at Carolina and Kari Lehtonen at Florida, and he would decide on the Tampa Bay game after seeing those two performances. Bishop played parts of five seasons with the Lightning, but Hitchcock said his decision will be performance-based.

"Whoever gives us the best chance of winning the game, that's who we'll go with," Hitchcock said. "That's just the way it is."

As for the line juggling that looked so good on Friday?

"They were good in one game, so let's see how it moves forward," he said. "I did like the 1-2 punch a lot, but we'll get a better read on the road."