First Shift: Stars look to end 2023 on winning note vs. Blackhawks

Nils Lundkvist has had his share of pressure in his career. He asked for a trade from the New York Rangers before last season because he wanted a better opportunity. He got that through much of last season, but then was replaced by Thomas Harley and didn’t play a game in the playoffs. This season, he played in the first 21 consecutive games. But then the coaches decided to scratch him and he has played in just four of the past 13 games.

On Friday, he returned from missing four straight games with healthy scratches and played one of his best games of the year – logging 14:05 and coming up with a big assist on a Joe Pavelski tip-in.

“I thought he did a good job,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “It was a good game to put him back in and he’s got to build on that now.”

The guess is Lundkvist will get a second game against Chicago on Sunday. It’s a chance to prove he can do this on a regular basis. Lundkvist struggled earlier when he realized he might get scratched, and said he has been using practice time and video time to make sure he’s ready for every opportunity he gets.

“It’s a mental test to sit out and then try to come back in and do the most of it,” Lundkvist said. “But you have to go out and find your confidence level even though it’s harder when you’ve been sitting out a little bit. It’s something you’ve got to have if you want to play in this league.”

Lundkvist was a first-round pick of the New York Rangers in 2018. When Stars GM Jim Nill traded for him last year, he gave up the rare first-round pick in exchange. That tells you how much the franchise sees in the Swedish defenseman. That said, Lundkvist understands he has to earn the trust of the coaches and earn his time on ice.

“Obviously, you learn from every time you’re going out and in,” he said. “I feel like it’s a mental process to kind of learn and try to be better.”

Nill has said on many occasions that this is not a “developmental league,” and that while he understands the challenges of his job, he’s not going to question what a coach needs to do to win on a nightly basis. DeBoer said he understands the importance of development, but that his focus is narrow.

“It would be great, but my priority is to manage 20 guys and make sure we get into a playoff spot,” DeBoer said. “The managing assets part is something that other departments worry about more than I do. I think there are times and places for that. I think the first 20, 25 games of the year, training camp things like that. But you start getting to this time of year, you’ve got to try to win every night. The margins are small and things can turn quickly.”

Dallas has been in a battle with Colorado and Winnipeg for first place in the Central Division with the margin between the three teams often just one point. Colorado won the division by one point last season. The Stars are currently trying to navigate without No. 1 goalie Jake Oettinger (lower body injury), so the decisions are tough for the coaches.

But Lundkvist has been through enough of this to know that he has to push his way back in and make it tough for the coaches to take him out again.

“I feel like I need to have a little bit more of a shooting mentality,” he said of the shot that gave him an assist. “Joe [Pavelski] actually said to me in the intermission, ‘Hey, you’ve got to shoot more.’ Then, all of the sudden you shoot one and it goes in. Great tip. You never know when you get the puck to the net.”

He received the puck on a pass from Harley, and he has watched as the 22-year-old has earned more and more ice time this season. Lundkvist said that’s been good for him.

“You look at Thomas, he’s been very impressive this year,” Lundkvist said. “He’s playing with a high confidence level, he’s making plays, he’s getting shots through and he’s joining the rush. It’s impressive to see. I think you can learn from him.”

Key Numbers

64 percent
Dallas won 62 percent of its faceoffs Friday against Chicago. Jamie Benn was 7-1, Roope Hintz was 7-2. Chicago’s Connor Bedard went 2-11, while Jason Dickinson was 2-10.

6-1-1
In the month of December, Stars goalie Scott Wedgewood is 6-1-1 with a 2.97 GAA and .894 save percentage.

17
Stars forward Roope Hintz has 17 points (8 goals, 9 assists) in his past nine games against the Blackhawks. Two of his four career hat tricks have come against Chicago.

He Said It

“It’s partially that the other team is a good team and they come at you, but we let them have a little room too. It’s got to be focus and the desire to play the same way for 60 minutes. It’s hard, but you’ve got to keep reminding them, and these are good examples. We got a point out of it tonight. If we could play like we did in the third period and the start of the first, you’re looking at two points in this league a lot of the time. We’ve got to spell that out and make sure that it sinks it and you learn your little lessons along the way in each one of these games.”

- Chicago coach Luke Richardson on the ups and downs of Friday’s 5-4 overtime loss to Dallas

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.