Friday Dallas Stars Roundup: Jason Robertson Week-to-Week, Lineup Analysis, Power Play Popcorn

Let's talk about the playoffs, at last

Note: The playoff content is going to be a lot, so just be prepared for one or two stories every day for the next little while. For instance, later today, we’ll have a bangwagoner’s guide to the roster later today, and an exclusive interview that’s going up tomorrow morning, too.

Oh, and we’re drawing a winner for the two playoff tickets at 5:00pm Central today, too.

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At practice today in Frisco, the Dallas Stars kicked things off with two faces we haven’t seen on the ice in a long time: Nils Lundkvist and Miro Heiskanen.

To be clear, these two players were working out with the Stars’ emergency backup goalie, Chris Dudo. They were off the ice about half an hour before the Stars’ actual practice began. But during the time they were out there, two things were clear: neither of them was trying to max out the way Seguin was in the week or two before his return.

Pete DeBoer said that Heiskanen is still “status quo,” which means he’s out for Game 1 tomorrow, but the Stars won’t commit to anything beyond that. Heiskanen looked good, though he wasn’t moving too fast around the ice. But then again, only Heiskanen knows how close he really is.

Lundkvist was an extra surprise, given his injury was termed as season-ending when he had shoulder surgery over two months ago. He was clearly protecting his shoulder on the ice today when the two defensemen were primarily practicing with pucks along the boards and some light passing.

DeBoer clarified after practice that Lundkvist is “not anywhere close,” but said that if the team’s playoff run goes “long enough,” then perhaps the conversation could change. Either way, it was great to see Lundkvist back on the ice again for the first time in months. He looked pretty happy to be there, too.

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Oh, and there’s one other player who won’t be available for Game 1: Jason Robertson, whom DeBoer called “week-to-week” during today’s press conference. When asked if Robertson would still be an option later in the series, DeBoer was a bit coy, saying with a smile, “If the series goes more than a week, then yeah.”

Robertson looked to suffer a knee injury against Nashville on Wednesday, so “week-to-week” would technically mean he could return as early as Game 3, if that holds true. Of course, it’s the playoffs, so all injury updates should be taken with a grain of salt. Still, given how Robertson left the ice in pain, and given how he was reported to be wearing a knee brace, we could be talking about some kind of sprain—albeit one less serious than Heiskanen’s, which required surgery and was termed “month-to-month” afterward.

If you’d like to read more about knee injuries, then good news! I wrote a lot about them a little while ago. Go read a book, nerd. Specifically, this one.

DeBoer said he didn’t have a problem with the Michael McCarron hit that injured Robertson on Wednesday. "

“I thought it was a hockey play,” DeBoer said. “He’s a physical guy. He’s going to get a piece of you as you move the puck. They just happen to be going opposite directions. I didn’t think he had an intent to injure him.”

In any case, it looks like the Stars will well and truly have to start a series against the Avalanche without their top goal-scorer and their top defenseman.

So, how does DeBoer plan to deal with those absence? Practice on Friday gave us a few clues, so let’s dig into what those changes might be, and why Deboer might be making them throughout the lineup, as well as on the power play.