Stars head coach Lindy Ruff

On why Jamie Benn missed morning skate

"It's as simple as optional, and everyone went except for him. That's it."

On what expects tonight in Game 7

"I expect us to play one heck of a game. I think we're excited, we know how to play the game and we know what they're going to bring, but I'm excited to see our compete level. We know it will be a lot better in the flow of the game. Excited to be in our building."

On if he can tell when a player is nervous in a game like this and how does that impact how he allocates ice time

"Well, I think that if you see somebody that you think is tight or isn't making plays, this can easily become a three-line game. Several of these games have become three-line games, and the guys that are going best, you want to try to play the most. That's what's typical in a game like this, whether it's nerves, jitters, whatever. But it's first time around for some players and you see that, some can work through it."

On if he has to do much coaching pregame against a team he knows so well

"There is a lot less, yes. I think they know what we're all about. I think there's a few small adjustments that I'm going to talk about. I worry that we've got their attention right now, if I show too much or say we need to do this that might happen every shift. It's at a time where they got to go out and play, they got to make some decisions, they got to make plays. We have to have risk in our game. We took most of the risk out of our game and it didn't look so good. Our game is good when we have risk involved. I've talked to the team, I even talked to them during the first timeout in St. Louis, but I couldn't quite convince them to get on the right side of it."

On how important the gap is

"Yeah, it's very important to us. If we give these guys time and space, you give any team time and space, they're going to make plays. These guys can make plays and if we give their players time in key areas of the ice, they'll make plays. I just feel we've got to contest the ice everywhere we can."

On Eakin and Faksa improving on faceoffs

"I think getting a handle on the guys you're going against, knowing that some guys are using their feet, some guys are trying to block and when you're up against a guy that many times, we're trying to make adjustments. We're showing video, sometimes we'll show a clip in between periods. Sometimes they'll come in and say if they've had a bad period, what can we do differently and they'll look at it. I think just that constant adjustment they're making towards the guys that are either doing well or the guys they're struggling with."

On if home ice will be a big difference for Game 7

"Well, I hope it's a big difference for Game 7. I think our guys are excited to be here at home. The one thing we spent a lot of time talking about at the start of camp was our goal for going into the year, was to be a better team on home ice. And we accomplished that, and now we've got a game on home ice here in front of our fans that we deserve, we worked hard to get, and we want it to be a difference for us."

On if he's seen more confidence in Lehtonen after his Game 6 performance

"Well, I've seen more confidence throughout the year. Even bouncing back from tougher games, being able to go when there's tough stretches, being able to go and even bounce back from inside these two series where he's done a better job of putting tough situations behind him. We would enter a real tough situation and I thought he stood tall and I think that is just a sign that he's comfortable inside a big game right now."

On if he's ever seen a series where three goalies have been pulled in six games

"I don't believe so, but I think it still is about how close it is and the difference you want to make, and if you have to pull the plug, you pull the plug just to try to change the direction. And some nights it's just not their night. They get treated a lot different, but it's different than a defenseman having a bad night. They don't get called out as much as a goaltender does because the goaltender is the last stop on the mechanism before it goes in the net."

On if they prepare their goalies face those chances in such a high-risk game

"Well, the situations I'm talking about aren't the careless ones where we're giving up breakaways and 2-on-1s. The high risk I'm talking about is the gap up, is playing those crucial 1-on-1s where you're going to trust a guy so we can stay in, so we can gap up. That's the risk we need in our game. Every team doesn't want to give up breakaways, 2-on-1s. I want our players to have the confidence to hang in there and win their 1-on-1, win their 1-on-1 gap up, stay tight, don't give them any ice. Let's contest the ice, don't back off, don't give them that blue line to blue line just because you're unsure of the speed of the player or how good that player is."

Twitter: @MikeHeika