First Shift 🏒
In a season that has featured a week-long trip to Finland, an excessive amount of injuries, and some of the Stars’ most inconsistent days, the return from the 4 Nations Face-Off is just one more Lego piece on the stairs for the lads in Victory Green.
Dallas will return from a two-week break this weekend and jump right into back-to-back games, playing at the Devils on Saturday and the Islanders on Sunday. With five players participating in the 4 Nations Face-Off, as well as coaches Pete DeBoer and Misha Donskov, the Stars will be juggling things a bit. They have been holding practice in Frisco for four days to get ready, but have not had a full workout with all involved in the tournament. There also won’t be a morning skate before a 6 p.m. local time start (5 p.m. Central).
But assistant coaches Steve Spott and Alain Nasreddine ran the team through a lot of drills, and also welcomed back defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin, who missed the final two games before break. So with recent trade pieces Ceci and Granlund looking good in the lineup and both Lyubushkin and Mason Marchment back from injuries, Dallas is actually looking pretty healthy. Yes, Miro Heiskanen (knee surgery) and Seguin (hip surgery) are still out, but this team has been resilient all year.
“I don’t think anyone is used to this long of a break, but I think what we did this week should help,” Nasreddine said. “We have a veteran group. We have good vets and they put in the work this week. We had a plan for this week. We should be ready to go for the back-to-back.”
The Stars also entered the break on a bit of a run. They are 15-5-2 since Christmas, which is the fourth-best mark in the NHL over the span. They rank second in scoring in that span at 3.45 goals per game and third in GAA at 2.41. A big part of that scoring has been the resurgence of Jason Robertson and Johnston, who each got off to slow starts this season because of injuries.
In the past 21 games, Robertson has 13 goals and 15 assists for 28 games. That ranks fourth in the league in that span. Johnston, meanwhile has 28 points (10 goals, 18 assists) in the past 23 games, which ranks sixth in the league.
“I think everybody is on board,” said Marchment, who missed a month after facial surgery. “We’ve got new guys coming in and learning the system, and it feels like everyone is on the same page. That’s a huge part of going into the playoffs, and I think we’re just about there.”
That said, it is a new challenge, and the Stars will have to get back into their detailed game.
“You want to keep the foot on the pedal,” said forward Colin Blackwell. “All these points are going to matter at the end of the year, so we need to pick it back up. You see how tight the standings are. The games are going to be pretty tight. It might be sloppy or chaotic, but that’s why we’re working on the details right now. When we play like that, we’ve been pretty successful.”
