Monday Dallas Stars Roundup: Jake Oettinger's Return, Visor Revisions, and Justin Hryckowian's Two Front Teeth

The weather is nice out here

Jamie Benn warms up at morning skate in Los Angeles.

Programming note: We’re on the road for the back-to-back games in California this week, so this RoundUp is usurping the usual Monday Rundown today.

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Jamie Benn was back with the Stars at Staples Center er, Crypto.com Arena this morning, and one thing popped out right away: For the first time in years, the Stars captain was wearing a visor.

Glen Gulutzan saw Benn sporting a visor back when he coached a young Benn in the AHL, so today’s sight might have been a tad less jarring for Gulutzan than for most fans. At least, that’s one conclusion you could draw from Gulutzan’s bit of humor this morning when asked about Benn’s new facial protection:

“I kind of liked it, actually,” Gulutzan said, with a sly smile. “Maybe he’ll go stand in front of the net now.”¹

Jokes aside, Benn skated on line with Matt Duchene and Justin Hryckowian at morning skate today, and that trio looks likely to play tonight against the Kings. Benn missed a couple of games in order to have his nose “fixed,” which sounds like it’s involved both external repair (stitches) and some other work as well.

Gulutzan added that the visor for Benn is a matter of safety, but that will come with a trade-off, if Benn keeps the extra protection come game-time. Because as Sean Shapiro reported almost eight years ago, the original reason Benn disposed of his visor was because he didn’t like the sweat dripping into his visor when he leaned over to take face-offs.

That shouldn’t be as big of an issue right now, though. Benn has only taken 60 faceoffs in his 23 games so far this season, which is a sharp departure after being one of the Stars’ best faceoff men over the last few seasons. He’s yet to really be asked to fill that role this year, and in those 60 faceoffs he has taken, he’s gone a pedestrian 50%, winning 30 of them.

Benn wasn’t available to the media after skating this morning, but since it looks like he’ll be skating on a line with two other lefties tonight, he may not take many draws in this game, either—whether he’s wearing a visor or not.

Oettinger Back In

It’s no small thing that Casey DeSmith started consecutive games for Dallas with a healthy Jake Oettinger available. Gulutzan and the team are downplaying it, as you’d expect, but to see the franchise goaltender (who is also pushing to steal the top USA goaltending job from the reigning Hart Trophy winner) not finishing any of the last three games is something that speaks volumes.

Today, when asked about Oettinger’s not having played in the last two games, Gulutzan pointed to another former Stars goalie that he learned some things from.

“One thing that I learned from Mike Smith in my time with him,” Gulutzan said, “Is sometimes it’s good to get some work in with your guy. Whether you are on a great streak or you’re not on a great streak, either way. Sometimes, just getting the refinement in your game is important.”

One of the most fascinating things about Gulutzan’s second go-round in Dallas has been how many connections he has with current and former players and coaches. Mike Smith was a great young backup goalie behind Marty Turco, and he was the main piece in the Brad Richards trade back in 2008 before having a long career in subsequent stops.

So it’s interesting to hear Gulutzan point to Smith when talking about how Oettinger can benefit from the short break he’s had.

“Jake’s played some hockey here, and there’s been lots of pressure on lots of guys, so it’s good sometimes to get a little reset for everybody,” Gulutzan said. “He’s had a couple extra days of work, so it’s good.”

In talking with Oettinger this morning, the Stars’ goalie is maintaining his typically calm demeanor. When asked about what he’s learned about coming back into the lineup after having another goaltender start a couple of games, Oettinger says he’s treating it like any other game.

“Yeah, that’s out of my control when it comes to that,” Oettinger said. “Now that it’s my turn to play again, I just have to give our team a chance to win. I’m not really putting too much stock into the other stuff. Just trying to get my best game, and I think it’s a team effort. It’s not just one guy, so I think we all need to have our best game tonight, and I look forward to trying to do my part.”

And with a low-event opponent like the Kings coming up, Oettinger knows that he might not get warmed up to start the game the way most goalies would generally prefer.

“Obviously, you wish you could get a guy to shoot three pucks in your chest in the first three minutes of the game,” Oettinger said, “But that just doesn’t happen. For me, I’m thinking about—it’s such a fine line—doing stuff to stay ready while also just not doing too much.”

As always when it comes to goaltending, it’s about controlling what you can, and not being hung up on what you can’t. That remains true whether those things are in the game or outside of it.

“Just try to stay in it and stay ready,” Oettinger said. “I’ve said a thousand times, that just means there are gonna be two or three saves that are even more important over the course of the game, and it can kind of be a turning point.”

Lineup Notes

As for the lines we saw at morning skate, here’s what I can tell you:

• The security at SuperGreatandLegitimateCurrency.biz Crypto.com Arena is certainly doing its job, which is to say they did a great job keeping me out of the building for the better part of an hour after my arrival this morning. However, I still managed to arrive in time to catch the bulk of morning skate. It pays to get places early, kids.