Dallas Stars

[NoWayOut]

Been kind of invisible. I mean he's doing his thing, playing physical but other than that nothing to really draw the eye, good or bad. Does have three hits and just under two minutes of PPTOI.

[NoWayOut]

Ritchie has started to show up a bit offensively. No goals but a couple of decent chances in close.

Eakin's line is answering the call from Ruff. Opie with a goal, Garbutt with the helper, and they have gone heads up almost exclusively with Tarasenko & Co. and have kept them in check so far. Good restraint from Roussel. The Blues have been prodding the bear but he's declined to take the bait. McKenzie did likewise earlier with Otter trying to goad him into a fight. No need to drop the gloves or do anything undisciplined to give them a boost of energy.

[NoWayOut]

So much for the new restrained Roussel. Jackman finally gets him to go, and well if you're going to drop 'em might as well make it entertaining.

[blayze]

Damn it... I benched Lethonen this week.

You'd think with their best player out and going up against one of the best home teams in the league the Stars would get crushed.... NOOOOO they just had to play a solid all-round game.

Damn you Lehtonen!!! Why must you torment me so...

[NoWayOut]

Turns out Sceviour's injury was merely a broken nose and he did return to the game. Initial reports online, including Heika, were UBI and questionable. Not a big deal in terms of his being a key cog in the Stars machine, but they can't afford to lose anybody out of the forward group right now.

And that's four really good starts in a row now for Kari. He's getting right at the right time, though it remains to be seen how long he can keep it up. He was pretty solid during that 8-2 run around New Year's and then hit a rough patch again. Not wanting to jinx him, just being realistic.

[NoWayOut]

Well word from Heika is Moen left with an injury and there will be an update tomorrow. Awesome. Just like Sceviour, Moen's no great irreplaceable talent, but still as thin as Dallas is up front another injury is not welcome news.

In other injury news, Nichushkin was re-evaluated back on the 13th and is 4-6 weeks out from that point. So still about on the timetable that was laid out back in December. Resume skating sometime in mid-to-late March with an eye towards possibly returning in April. That's not only going to depend on his recovery but the Stars playoff chances, naturally.

[NoWayOut]

Interesting footnote to Benn's hat trick: That was the first hat trick by a Dallas Star not named Tyler Seguin, since Steve Ott on 3-31-10.

[STONE.]

Maybe you have newer news than me, but this video says he's already skating....
http://prohockeytalk.nbcsports.com/2...sumes-skating/

Still probably a long ways out, but could see him back earlier.

[NoWayOut]

Nothing really new on that front, other than last night's announcement that he's still 4-6 weeks out. Their playoff hopes will have as large a say in when/if he comes back this season as his rehab does.

And in other news on the injury front, Travis Moen is out for an "extended period" with an undisclosed UBI, and Hemsky is still questionable for tomorrow night. Looks like Travis Morin is going to be called up again. Wow, the injury bug is taking a big bite out of the Stars forwards. It's been a veritable buffet.

Nill was quoted in Elliotte Friedman's 30 thoughts as saying this is the time for other guys to step up and show him what they've got and make an impression. Ruff called out the Pitbulls and they responded last night. He called out Kari a couple of weeks ago and Lehtonen has responded with four of his best games this season, all in a row. That quote of Nill's I think is directed at guys like Ritchie, Sceviour, and McKenzie without naming them. No doubt he expects it of everybody, but those three young guys in particular.

[NoWayOut]

Hemsky draws back in tonight, slated to skate with Fiddler and McKenzie to start. Ritchie will be with Roussel and Eakin on the second line to open while Garbutt will start out with Horcoff and Sceviour on the fourth line. Those are the lines from warmups per Mark Stepneski.

[blayze]

I'm not watching, but the scoreboard indicates this has been a crazy game!

Looks like Lehtin'em-in is up to his old tricks again.

[NoWayOut]

I'm not watching, but the scoreboard indicates this has been a crazy game!

Looks like Lehtin'em-in is up to his old tricks again.

This is the definition of defense optional. If you love high scoring hockey this is pure magic. From a pure hockey fan standpoint, throw favorite teams out the window, I'm enjoying the **** out of this one. As Stars fan....I may need heart meds before this is done.

And as I type this it's another L for Dallas. Well ain't that a pisser...

[blayze]

Kronwall with the OT Winner... **** YEAH!!!! Haha I got 3 points for that goal.

[NoWayOut]

Six goals at home and you still lose. It's nothing but abject failure. The Stars started the night 5 points back of 8th, so they have to root for LA to finish this one off and pick up the W just to stay 5 points back. If SJ comes back to win they will be 7 out and that's damn nearly done. And they draw the hottest team in the league, on the road, on the dreaded second game. Yikes!

Another loss tomorrow and it's time to seriously consider where they want to play golf come April.

[blayze]

With Seguin out 3-8 weeks, I figured it was already a forgone conclusion the Stars were out of the playoffs...

The Wild and LA are in.