Preseason Game 3 AfterThoughts: Defense Pairings and Adjusted Expectations
In their third preseason game this year, the Stars iced a lineup of six NHL regulars at forward, and another five NHL veterans on defense, and their starting goaltending tandem.
The Minnesota Wild also brought some players. In fact, if you’re wondering why Devin Shore was in the lineup, it probably had something to do with the NHL minimum of eight “veterans” in the lineup for the preseason. If I’m counting correctly, the Wild met that requirement by the skin of their teeth on Wednesday, as Declan Chisolm played 31 games between Winnipeg and Minnesota last year, which clears the bar of 30 by *checks notes* one game.
That’s standard practice for preseason road games, of course; the Stars took the minimum eight for the Colorado game on Monday, after all. But it’s noteworthy for tempering excitement, which is the main reason to write about preseason games in the first place: to tell you why you should be less excited.
Alain Nasreddine said as much after the game, talking about how it’s nice to win any game, but they really are more focused on individual performances than the overall result. And that’s where things like the Miro Heiskanen-Matt Dumba pairing draw a lot of eyeballs. That’s a pairing the coaching staff are very clearly trying out with an eye towards its regular season usefulness.
The results are probably mixed, so far. Obviously Miro Heiskanen scored a nice goal from the left circle, finding an open part of the net past Filip Gustavsson while he was fighting screens from both Oskar Bäck and and Emilio Pettersen.
What a sizzler @BudLight | #TexasHockey pic.twitter.com/qionVSEhs0
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) September 26, 2024
The pairing was also noticeable for the physical element (what a phrase) that Dumba brought, laying a big hit on everyone’s favorite car salesman, Devin Shore:
Enter Matt Dumba… pic.twitter.com/9IuTrATeic
— Sam Nestler (@samnestler) September 26, 2024
In theory, this is exactly what that pairing is supposed to do, right? Great skating by both players to cover a lot of ground combined with someone who can keep players honest if they try to take liberties with Heiskanen. It’s great, in theory. It’s even better in practice, and practice is basically what a preseason game is, for all involved.
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I was all ready to watch the penalty kill closely in this one, only for the Stars to drive under the speed limit until the very end of the game, when Heiskanen got himself busted. They killed the penalty fairly effectively, though that’s not as much of an accomplishment when the other team is missing most of their power play. Misha Donskov mentioned after morning skate today that the penalty kill this year may apply more pressure, as teams tend to steal from what’s successful, and the Stars know all too well how effective the Edmonton penalty kill can be.
Oskar Bäck mentioned something similar as well when I asked him today, saying how the Stars tend to use more of a diamond in the NHL and a press system in Cedar Park. But given what Donskov said and what we’ve seen so far, it wouldn’t shock me to see the system do what all systems tend to do: become a hybrid of multiple systems in an effort to do everything well. As always, it really does come down to the players.
Kole Lind looked good on a line with Bäck and Pettersen in this one, and that’s probably more noteworthy than the fact that an NHL line like Marchment-Duchene-Seguin looked good against primarily non-NHL players. For those trying to get ahead of the coaches in picking a 13th forward for the year, I’m still not sure there’s a safe bet, but I think Bäck, Lind, and Arttu Hyry could be splitting the vote by something like 40-30-30, according to my Very Scientific Guessing. Obviously we can only go by what we see, but the coaches do want to get information from these early games, and it’s telling which players they seem most interested in getting information about.
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Add to that the fact that Peter DeBoer has been absent for the last few days getting his appendix removed–Stars PR said the surgery was successful and he came home today, by the way–and you can see how it’s tough to even try to make roster predictions at this point. The person with (one of) the deciding votes hasn’t been here to see Nils Lundkvist making a few cameos as a number one defenseman, so who’s to say whether that will really mean anything when it comes to opening night?
Nasreddine said after the game tonight that Lundkvist has looked good the last two games in particular, and that “every game he gets to play, he gets a chance to prove himself.” The proof will be in the putting, by which I mean “putting them in the lineup in April.” The Stars really do have a healthy redundancy of defensemen this year, so nothing is going to be free.
Brendan Smith is another player looking for that sixth spot on the blue line, and for the second straight game, he brought what he is supposed to bring. He’s not afraid of getting up in other players’ business, and he provides veteran savvy and solid positioning for his partner. Luke Krys talked this morning about how easy Smith is to play with, and that’s not nothing. Knowing where a defenseman is going to be is pretty important when it comes to passing the puck to them, and Krys seemed to have good chemistry with Smith in this one despite their being at polar extremes of NHL experience.
Interestingly, when I asked Smith about how he saw his versatility and experience fitting in with the team this year, he responded by clarifying an important point: “I’m just trying to make the team right now.” Yes, that’s what all veterans are supposed to say during camp if they’re not obvious lineup locks, but you might think a veteran of almost 700 NHL games and the oldest player on the roster is a shoe-in for a regular turn. But, at least out loud to the media, that’s not how Smith is approaching things. Still and all, I’d be shocked if he isn’t on the roster Opening Night, regardless of whether he’s wearing a sweater or a suit. He can help this team.
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Finally, here are a few assorted notes in a section which I have entitled, “Assorted Notes after a Preseason Game against a Minnesota Squad with a Bunch of Young Players on a Wednesday Night in September.”
Assorted Notes after a Preseason Game against a Minnesota Squad with a Bunch of Young Players on a Wednesday Night in September
Joe Cecconi also dressed for Minnesota. For a player who garnered some excitement (and some drama) after he was drafted, then eventually signed with Dallas way back when, he hasn’t been able to make the jump to the NHL. It would be neat to see him get a cup of coffee this year in Minnesota.
The Stars practiced some “flow drills” including 2-on-1 rushes this morning, but despite that preparation, they were foiled on a few of them during a fairly messy middle frame. The saucer passes might benefit from a couple more preseason games, but Mason Marchment was able to score after Seguin and Duchene’s 2-on-1 just prior fizzled out, so maybe it was all part of the plan.
Jake Oettinger looked good in his first NHL action this preseason. His rebound control wasn’t quite at playoff readiness, but then, it doesn’t have to be. The transition between Oettinger and DeSmith looked every bit as seamless as you could ask for, though I’m still not convinced that’s really much of a problem for a team. Having a good goalie tandem is infinitely more important than having a similar one. NHL players are pretty good at adapting.
Antonio Stranges is a great stickhandler. It’s fun to watch, but it needs to lead to something more than a brief “oooh” for my money.
Logan Stankoven now has 17 shots on goal this preseason, but no goals (albeit a couple of assists). It’s interesting that the coaching staff keeps running him out there given he has a lock on a roster spot, but perhaps some confidence would be good for him after some of his dry spells (of course, dry is relative to Stankoven’s insane scoring run upon his debut). Will he play all six preseason games and rack up 30 shots? This is the drama we live for.