By MIKE HEIKA 

There's a scene in the movie Good Will Hunting where Matt Damon's character attempts to explain his unexpected genius.

As he put it, some people look at a piano and see a box, some look at it and see music.

It's the latter with Sergei Zubov, the Stars' Rubik's Cube on ice. He doesn't study all that much film or watch all that much hockey outside of the games he plays, yet when the puck comes to him, he just instinctively knows what to do.

"It's just different when you're on the ice," Zubov said. "You look at film or watch games, but it's not the same as when you're playing. When you're playing, things just happen."

Stars associate coach Rick Wilson likes to view it as immense creativity within the structure of a risk-reward system. Zubov's instinct is to create offense. It's what the native of Moscow learned as a youth growing up in the USSR's dynamic hockey system. But he tempers that desire to make outlandish plays with a healthy dose of conservative respect that has been hammered home through years in the defensively-conscience NHL.

But what if the reward side of the risk-reward formula was given just a little bit of a push? What if NHL coaches actually told their players to take a few more risks?

"There's no telling what he can do with it," Wilson said. "We're just going to have to wait and see."

The NHL has made several rule changes this season, and each fits Zubov's game. Goalies can't handle the puck in the corners, so defensemen will have to control the puck more. That's one of Zubov's strengths. Long passes across two lines will be allowed, meaning Zubov can send forwards streaking into the offensive zone on breakaways. There will be four extra feet in the offensive zone between the blue line and the goal line. Zubov should be able to use that space to open passing lanes. And finally, the NHL will have shootouts after tie games, and Zubov might be the best breakaway shooter on the Stars.

"He's one of the most underrated players in the league, because he makes everything in this game look so easy," defenseman Stephane Robidas said. "And these new rule changes can make him even more dangerous."

But so far, even Zubov doesn't know how he will react to the rule changes.

"Seriously, who knows," he said. "If they call it like they say they are going to call it, we could have 100 penalties a game. Until we get out there in a game and experience the rules and how the refs call it, you don't know what you can do."

But if the Stars have to put their fate in the hands of one player and let his hockey sense drive the bus, they have learned to trust in Zubov. And the nice thing is, Zubov has returned that trust. When the market for free-skating defensemen was going up past $6 million in the summer, Zubov had already committed to a three-year contract extension at $4 million a year. Does he regret the decision to sign early and forego unrestricted free agency?

"No, not at all," he said. "I talked to my agent and said, 'Let's get something done in Dallas.' How I feel is this: I belong to this team and this team belongs to me. I have put so much into this team that I can't see myself playing anywhere else now."

Few people knew Zubov was that committed to the Stars, but then it's not unusual that he doesn't explain himself. After all, with some things it's better just to let them happen and marvel at them later.

"The great thing about him is I don't think he knows what he's going to do, so the opponent never knows what he's going to do," Robidas said. "I'm more amazed by him every time I watch him play."