Monday Rundown: New Top Line, Old Rookies, and Mikko Rantanen's Stomach Bug
A three-game road trip for Dallas starts tomorrow night in St. Louis
The Dallas Stars are flying to St. Louis on Monday afternoon to begin a three-game road trip. And for once, that road trip won’t include back-to-back games.
This week, Dallas will have a relatively normal every-other-day road trip, facing the Blues, Golden Knights, and Mammoth across five days before returning home to play the Jets and Blues (yet again) in their last two games before the Olympic break.
What that road trip also looks likely to feature is Justin Hryckowian playing on a line with Wyatt Johnston and Mikko Rantanen, based on the practice lines the Stars rolled on Sunday afternoon in Frisco. Here’s what those lines were, which I can confirm after driving roughly 30 miles per hour1 across multiple icy tollways on Sunday in order to see them with my own eyeballs:
Hryckowian-Johnston-Rantanen
Robertson-Hintz-Bourque
Bäck-Steel-Benn
Erne-Faksa-Blackwell
Bastian (rotated with Erne)
Lindell-Heiskanen
Harley-Lundkvist
Capobianco-Petrovic
Bichsel (rotated with Capobianco)
Hryckowian looked pretty sharp with Johnston and Rantanen on Sunday, even scoring a nice goal on Jake Oettinger at one point. So perhaps it makes sense that Gulutzan just wants to see more of the same from the Stars rookie, rather than giving him any new instructions for playing with elite linemates.
“You know, I’m not going to say much to him,” Gulutzan said, “But I watched his practice today and I thought he was a dominant player in practice. He had a great practice on that line.”
This isn’t the first time Hryckowian might get some shifts on the top-six, as he’s occasionally been moved up the lineup in-game. And Gulutzan says the message will remain the same as it’s been in those situations.
“What I’ve told him in the past, at times when I’ve elevated him,” Gulutzan said, “I’ve just said, ‘The reason you’re here is just to play your own game within that group. I don’t want you to change, and they don’t want you to change. So, go win your battles, get to the front of the net, and just play your game with those two players.’”
The Stars will be hoping that Hryckowian’s addition to a line with a healthy Mikko Rantanen—who looked and sounded much more like himself on Sunday, as we’ll discuss down below—will lead to a more complete effort against the Blues on Tuesday night in Missouri.
“I think if you look at the big body of work, and this is truly what I believe,” Gulutzan said on Sunday, “I thought we had, between Boston, Columbus, and in the first period against St. Louis…I thought we played seven-and-a-half good periods. I thought we got a little fatigued against St. Louis in that three-in-four [three games in four days], and you could see it in the third. Robo made a huge play to get us [the win] with a minute left.”
That last-minute win over the Blues is something the Stars haven’t been finding in recent games. One more goal against Anaheim, Columbus, or Utah (or one fewer allowed against San Jose) might have put an entirely different complexion on the Stars’ most recent stretch. So, after getting that goal from Jason Robertson to win their last contest, you can understand why Gulutzan is viewing the Stars’ process over most of the last few games as a good sign—even if they did start to fade a bit as Friday’s game went on.
“That game, for me, was more in St. Louis’s favor,” Gulutzan said. “The other six periods were in our favor. And I like that number. I like that ratio. You know, we talk about the parity in the league. If you’re going to play seven out of nine good periods, seven-and-a-half out of nine good periods against good teams, you’re gonna come out with points. So, I just want to continue that.”
So after sitting tight in a snowbound Dallas for a couple of days, the Stars will look to keep the positive ratio running as they fly out of one icy city into another.
“We got a little rest yesterday and had a good practice today,” Gulutzan said on Sunday. “We’ll go straight to the plane tomorrow. We’re gonna skate in St. Louis and get our energy back, and then I’m hoping we put together another three good periods. So for me, that would be, ten-and-a-half good periods out of [12], which is what we’re trying to do.”
Injury Updates
Lian Bichsel practiced as an extra defenseman on Sunday, but he isn’t expected to play on the road trip, which we discussed a couple days ago. But he will be traveling on said road trip, and at this point, it really feels like he’s one “Put me in, Coach” away from joining the lineup, as soon as all the pain from his broken foot is gone for good.
Two other names noticeably absent from Sunday’s practice group were Matt Duchene and Ilya Lyubushkin. I asked Gulutzan about both of those players, and here’s what he said:
“Boosh [Lyubushkin] is being reevaluated tomorrow morning,” Gulutzan said, “So we’ll know more tomorrow [Monday] afternoon. I would call him doubtful for the first game of the trip. I think he’ll be on the trip, but I’d call him doubtful.”
Gulutzan said after Friday night’s win over St. Louis that Lyubushkin’s lower-body injury was related to blocking a shot against the Blues. One option the Stars could have, depending on the severity of the injury, is to put Lyubushkin on injured reserve in order to pre-emptively make room for Bichsel’s activation, should they want to do so before the break. That’s purely a hypothetical, but the benefit of that approach is that it would allow them to avoid putting a player like Capobianco or Adam Erne on waivers for the time being, should they want to go that route.
As for Duchene, his absence was not related to any injury.
“Dutchy is maintenance today, two days of maintenance,” Gulutzan said. “Expected to play [in St. Louis].”
Duchene’s power play goal on Friday night was a much-needed sign of life for last season’s highest-scoring player in Dallas, so we’ll see where he slots into Sunday’s practice lines. If I had to guess, I’d say Duchene is likely to center the third line with Steel and Benn, with Oskar Bäck moving down to take Erne’s spot on the fourth line.
Speaking of Bäck…
Oskar Bäck to Basics
Last year, Oskar Bäck beat out a couple of other players vying for the 13th forward spot in training camp, and he kicked off his NHL career as a 24-year-old rookie who largely held onto a 12th forward spot. He moved from center to wing pretty early on under Pete DeBoer, and while an occasional healthy scratch, he still logged 73 games in the regular season as well as 11 of the Stars’ 18 playoff contests.
And this year, Bäck says he’s had a clear idea of what his job is from day one.
“I know what I’m supposed to do, what they expect,” Bäck said, “It’s kind of been the same, playing kinda the same way. Simple hockey, and then PK.”
As for that last point, Bäck confirmed that he takes a lot of pride in being one of the Stars’ more frequently used penalty-killers.
“It’s a big part of my game,” Bäck said, “And I love ice time, too. It’s easier this year, too, I would say. You’re getting more comfortable in the system. You kind of already know what’s going on.”
Bäck has earned a new coaching staff’s trust this year, as he’s been even more of a lineup regular this season than he was last year. That makes two head coaches in a row who value what he brings, so he’s not looking to change anything.
“It was a little bit of adjusting to start last year,” Bäck said, “But doing basically the same things this year.”
Bäck went on to point out that during a bit of the penalty kill’s dip in performance this season, he could tell they were starting to get a little bit more passive when goals when go in. That downturn included a five-game stretch at the start of January, when opponents went 9-for-22 on the power play.
But in recent games, Alain Nasreddine’s group has calmed the waters a bit, allowing just three power play goals on 14 opportunities across their last seven games.
“We got back to being more aggressive in playing our PK now,” Bäck said.
The 16th-ranked penalty kill still has room for improvement, but their more recent stretch might be a good template for doing so. Continuing to allow an average of just two power plays per game shouldn’t hurt either, as they’ve done in their last seven.
Oh, and hockey aside, Bäck didn’t hesitate when asked what the best part of no longer being a rookie is.
“Don’t have to pay for the rookie dinner.” Bäck said, with a smile.
Mikko Rantanen’s Unintentional Weight-Loss Plan
Glen Gulutzan mentioned that Mikko Rantanen had lost weight during his illness last week before gutting out his return to the lineup on Friday night.
“I felt well enough [to play],” Rantanen said of Friday’s game. “You don’t play the whole game, so you try to keep it simple. Obviously you want to be out there. Even missing two games, you don’t want to do that either.”
Gulutzan said after Friday’s game that he put Rantanen with Roope Hintz—the Stars’ fastest skater—in order to take some of the pressure of pushing the pace off Rantanen’s shoulders. And it worked, as that line drew five power plays for Dallas, as well as getting the game-winning goal on Robertson’s winner.
“Yeah, energy was low,” Rantanen said, “But I just tried to play simple. Felt well enough in the warm-up that I was like, I was already warm and everything, so I didn’t want to go home from there.”
That response was a typically understated way for an elite athlete like Rantanen to describe the decision to play over 22 minutes of NHL hockey in a tight game. But after missing two games already, it was clear the superstar wasn’t going to miss a third.
“Yeah, it’s not ideal, obviously,” Rantanen said. “You don’t want to get sick and miss games because of that, but sometimes you get some bugs or whatever.”
Rantanen looked much more like himself on Sunday in Frisco, and he confirmed that the illness was a “stomach bug,” with, uh, everything that tends to go along with such maladies.
“Couldn’t really eat for a couple of days, so that was the issue, energy-wise,” Rantanen said. “Everything was coming out, so trying to get the energy back now.”
That’s enough details for now, I think.
One Other Kyle Capobianco Note
This wasn’t in the weekend story on Kyle Capobianco, but Capobianco mentioned that Rick Bowness—Winnipeg’s coach at the time—was a big help to him that season. After signing there ahead of 2022-23 as a free agent, Capobianco didn’t play in the AHL at all his first year with the Jets, but he also only played 14 of the team’s 82 NHL games that season. Capobianco credits Bowness’s communication and honesty in particular for helping him get through that season, as it’s always tough on a hockey player when they’re not playing hockey.
All that to say, it continues to impress me just how often Bowness’s name has come up in a highly positive context in a variety of conversations I’ve had with folks around the NHL in just the last two seasons.
League Leaders in Dallas
Finally, as we like to do on Mondays, let’s review where the Stars’ top players rank among the NHL’s elite. Because despite what has felt like a prolonged slump, this team still has some of the best players in the league having really great seasons—and that is the furthest thing from nothing.
Despite missing a couple of games to illness, playing another one while far less than 100%, and also missing a game earlier this year due to a suspension, Mikko Rantanen is still leading the Stars with 63 points in 49 games. That total includes 44 assists—an amount that still ranks among the league’s top helpmates. As has been the case for a while now, the Stars are getting a bona fide superstar performance from a bona fide superstar player.
Wyatt Johnston is no slouch either, as his power play tally on Friday extended his league-leading total of 17 power play goals—four more than the next-closest player, and also more than Nathan MacKinnon (8) and Brock Nelson (8) combined. Admittedly, this may say more about the Avalanche’s dreadful power play than anything else.
Casey DeSmith continues to stubbornly stick in the top-10 of the NHL in a lot of major goaltending categories, including being 9th in save percentage:
As we said above, Roope Hintz is one of the fastest skaters in the NHL. If you don’t believe me, here is proof: He’s third among NHL skaters in total 22+ MPH skating bursts (and also 4th in total 20-22 MPH bursts, for the record).
Miro Heiskanen also missed some games to attend to a personal family matter, but he’s still 10th in points among defenseman and 7th in power play points among blueliners. Not bad.
NHL.com/stats And finally, Jason Robertson is in the most elite company I can imagine any forward in the NHL being in: next to Connor McDavid and Nathan MacKinnon in goal-scoring, with the third-highest total in the league.
NHL.com/stats Oh, and before you start to talk about how that scoring is probably all from the power play and blah blah blah, let me just stop you: Robertson is also 9th in the NHL in even-strength goals. He is having a truly remarkable season, and now is as good a time as any for you to start truly appreciating it.
I am great at driving in the snow and ice. My secret to doing so is this: Don’t use the brakes. (This is also my secret to great regular driving, though it’s admittedly frowned upon in some circles.)
Great to get all the info from Gulutzan in this.
Weirdly this Monday feels more optimistic than recent ones… glad 49 looked good in practice and hope he looks good in game tomorrow.