Methot to miss at least two more weeks with sore knee

Stars defenseman Marc Methot is expected to miss at least two weeks after undergoing a procedure to help him deal with a sore knee that kept him out of last Saturday's game against Edmonton.
"We skated early in the week, and there was still some soreness," Hitchcock said. "So, he had another procedure done to eliminate the soreness, so he can hopefully be 100 percent."

Methot went out Nov. 6 with a knee injury that required arthroscopic surgery and missed 26 games, returning for the Jan. 4 game against New Jersey. He took warm-ups for the Jan. 6 game against Edmonton, but experienced soreness in the knee and was held out of the game as a precaution.
Hitchcock said this most recent procedure was nonsurgical. Methot will be evaluated in 10 days and the team should have a better idea on a return date at that time.
"He and we felt like he could play through what he's got, but it wouldn't be good long-term, so we opted to get it done now," Hitchcock said.
With Methot now out at least two weeks, the Stars are expected to recall an extra defenseman from the Texas Stars of the AHL.
The defense pairs in Friday's practice were the same as last game: Esa Lindell-John Klingberg; Dan Hamhuis-Greg Pateryn; Stephen Johns-Julius Honka.

Stars hold steady in standings during break

The Stars held their position in the standings despite not playing the past five days during their bye week. After Saturday's win over Edmonton, they were in the first-wild card spot in the Western Conference, and they were in the same position when they returned to practice on Friday.
The standings are a little tighter though. Their lead over the second wild-card spot went from four points to one, and their lead over ninth place went from four points to three. But nobody passed them.
"The best thing that happened is we never lost our spot," Hitchcock said. "I am shocked by that, but that's a good thing. Not everything perfect happened, but a lot of things that we needed to have happened, they happened. We were able to retain things, and we're in control now. That's a good sign."

Klingberg excited for All-Star, Seguin plans to make him feel like rookie

The NHL announced Thursday that Stars defenseman John Klingberg had been selected to play in the 2018 NHL All-Star Game in Tampa. It's the first time Klingberg has been selected to play in the NHL All-Star Game.
"I was really happy," said Klingberg, who leads all NHL defensemen in scoring. "I take real pride in that, showing that you did something good. I am very excited for that."
Klingberg said there is plenty to look forward to in going to an All-Star Game, especially being around many of the top players in the game.
"It's the best players in the world," Klingberg said. "Pick their brains a little bit and see how they prepare with their gear and other stuff like that. We're all really hockey nerds inside. We all do different stuff to prepare for the game and for me to go there and be with those guys is going to be a lot of fun. That's exciting."

Joining Klingberg in Tampa will be Stars center Tyler Seguin, who is no stranger to All-Star games. This will be his fifth.
"You're never a shoo-in," Seguin said. "It's always an honor to get selected. I've done it a bunch of times now, but it never gets too old. I am looking forward to the experience."
And Seguin is looking forward to giving Klingberg, the All-Star rookie, a hard time.
"I am going to mess with him a lot," Seguin said. "I'm going to tell him the times we have to be places and all the fan events that we have to attend, and we're not going to have to attend. Hopefully, he doesn't check Twitter and see what I'm saying now, but I look forward to making him feel like a rookie."

Friday's Practice Lineup

Here's how the Stars lined up in Friday's practice. Hitchcock said Ben Bishop would start in goal Saturday vs. Colorado.
Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Alexander Radulov
Antoine Roussel - Radek Faksa - Tyler Pitlick
Mattias Janmark - Martin Hanzal - Jason Spezza
Remi Elie - Devin Shore - Brett Ritchie/Gemel Smith
Esa Lindell - John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis - Greg Pateryn
Stephen Johns - Julius Honka
Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen
Not skating:Marc Methot (knee)
Mark Stepneski is an independent writer whose posts on DallasStars.com reflect his own opinions and do not represent official statements from the Dallas Stars. You can follow Mark on Twitter at @StarsInsideEdge.