Preseason Game 5 AfterThoughts: Mixing and Matching and Finding Out

Justin Hryckowian is not slowing down

A goal scorer in the act.

The Stars won another preseason game, and this time they did it with more or less a full NHL lineup.

Casey DeSmith made some very nice saves in what should be his final preseason action as the Stars jumped out to a 2-0 lead and never let the Blues get back in front.

Here are some of my thoughts after this game, which is why we call these stories “AfterThoughts.” Just a little wordplay for all the folks out there.

All right, let’s start with the words, then we’ll get to the video.

• Tyler Seguin had three points on the night, and he finished his night by being put out to defend a 6-on-5 situation. He looks rejuvenated so far this preseason in his couple of games, regardless of whom he’s played with. Jamie Benn, Wyatt Johnston, Sam Steel, or Justin Hryckowian? No problem. Seguin and Wyatt Johnston are tied for the team-lead in preseason points, with five apiece, and both have looked very good—including in the second period, when Johnston played on his off-side with Duchene and Seguin.

• Speaking of Seguin’s linemates, Matt Duchene was also quite good in his second preseason appearance, and his chemistry with Seguin remains as strong as ever. Sam Steel didn’t display quite the offensive suavity with the duo that you might have been hoping for in the first, including a couple of turnovers. Steel would end up switching places with Wyatt Johnston to start the second period, and Mikko Rantanen ended up staying out there for both halves of the 5-on-4, meaning Steel never joined it. The Stars only got the one power play—Gulutzan’s plan to ask Wes McCauley for extra power play practice tonight did not pan out—so we’ll have to wait and see if Steel gets a chance to show his chops in the Stars’ final game of the preseason on Saturday.

• Brien Rea mentioned on the broadcast that Johnston added five or six pounds (presumably of muscle) over the offseason, and that should serve him well as he continues to take on more importance for this team. Johnston played the first period with Bourque and Hryckowian, then the third period with Bourque and Jason Robertson, when Hryckowian got a look on the Duchene line. Johnston looked good in all three spots, for my money, but now is the time to experiment, and Gulutzan did that.

• Justin Hryckowian filled in on Duchene’s left wing with Seguin, and he created a gorgeous chance off the rush that Seguin finished. Hryckowian, for my money, has looked like the player with the highest potential ceiling of the Hyry/Erne/Hryckowian bubble trio, and last season showed the same level of promise in his game for the Texas Stars (and in some games in Dallas). He doesn’t have to be a top-six forward to be a contributor, but he’s got the qualities you like to see, both in terms of awareness (see his shoulder-check video below), skill, and doggedness.

• None of Erne, Petrovic, Kolyachonok, or Hyry played in Game 5, but Gulutzan did indicate earlier this week that the players fighting for a roster spot would get another game “each” to make a statement, so perhaps Game 6 will still have some drama attached to it. We’ll have to wait and see, which is sort of how drama works.

• The Robertson-Hintz-Rantanen line was creating lots of chances early on, but it also looked a bit at times like a trio of players who would not be sad to see the preseason shortened to four games next year. All told, I think it made sense to move Robertson next to Johnston and Bourque in the third, if only to see what latent chemistry there might be there.
  
  I’m not sure that experiment was entirely successful, but now is the time to do that sort of thing, and Gulutzan did. As we said earlier this summer, where Wyatt Johnston plays this year might be the most important question for Dallas to answer definitively. We’ll see what else we see (or don’t see) on Saturday night.

• The Stars’ first power play early in the second period saw Heiskanen running the first unit, as we’ve seen in practice recently after Harley was doing so early in training camp. It was the only one Dallas got all night, and Rantanen stayed out for the second set with Harley, so I’m not going to pick it apart too much. Chances were generated, but they didn’t look, to my eyes, quite like a unit in midseason form. Which, you know, it isn’t midseason, so why would they? Calm down, hypothetical people panicking about this! Easy.

• Nils Lundkvist came out to kill the first half of Lyubushkin’s penalty on the right side, which made sense, considering he was the only other righty in the lineup. Indeed, it continues to look like he’ll get some runway on the PK this year, and I do think that sort of thing can be good for a player’s confidence. Last year, Lundkvist was kept off the PK at all costs, so Alain Nasreddine putting him out there to start the PK next to Esa Lindell was pretty noteworthy. I have a couple clips of Lundkvist below, but overall, I thought he had a good game tonight. But man, if he and Harley stay together to begin the season, those road games against Winnipeg and Colorado will be a pretty good litmus test for that duo’s viability, you’d think.

• This was a good tuneup game for DeSmith, who made a few very nice saves, including a couple of really slick pad stops. As ever, he looks like exactly what you’d want out of a backup goaltender: Calm under pressure and able to cope with unexpected chances against. That’s what he was last year, and he might get a few more reps in which to do so this year.

• We also got a delay of game penalty video review challenge, which, come on, it is the preseason. Jim Montgomery, you made us all watch some extra television. (Haven’t you heard it rots your brain?) But I suppose it’s good to make sure the challenge system is up and running before things start to count. Dust off the big red buttons and all that.

• Leo Lööf was victimized with two pucks bouncing off his skate and past his goaltender. Tough night for someone with “oof” in his name, umlauts notwithstanding.

• All three of the Blues’ goals were scored by the offer sheet duo they snapped up from Edmonton last year. And then Dylan Holloway turned over the puck in fairly comical fashion for Jason Robertson’s empty-netter. That’s life with the Blues, I suppose.

• Finally, with Josh and Razor scheduled to be back on the call as usual for the final preseason game on Saturday, I wanted to take a moment to mention Brien Rea and Brent Severyn, who have called all five of the Stars’ preseason games in what I think I can safely say has been the best preseason game coverage Stars fans have had in decades.
  
  Even with Rea and Severyn having to call three of those games off monitors, with only the home team’s video board feed to go off of, the games had the feel of a genuine NHL viewing experience called by two knowledgeable broadcast veterans. Both Rea and Severyn were well-prepared with information, anecdotes, and background throughout every game, and Severyn’s frequent breakdowns of how certain plays related to Gulutzan’s new systems were very enlightening for viewers who want to know what they can expect. The duo also have years of chemistry to draw upon, and it showed in what I thought were genuinely fun calls.
  
  I’d be curious to hear what y’all thought, but I think we can all agree that this year’s experience was far superior to a radio feed from the opposing team.

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Lineup

Per Matt DeFranks (via Sam Nestler), the Stars began with this lineup. They would not stay with it, however.

Robertson - Hintz - Rantanen
Steel - Duchene - Seguin
Hryckowian - Johnston - Bourque
Bäck - Faksa - Bastian

Lindell - Heiskanen
Harley - Lundkvist
Bichsel - Lyubushkin

DeSmith
Poirier

The fourth line and defense pairings stayed the same, but Johnston and Steel swapped spots in the second period, and then Hryckowian moved up to 2LW with Duchene and Seguin in the third, with Steel playing 1LW with Rantanen and Hintz, and Robertson playing next to Johnston and Bourque on 3LW.

The Blues, meanwhile, were missing a few NHLers, but they still brought a lineup with a bit more of an NHL feel than we saw in Game 1.

Onto the video.

The Goals

Lyubushkin kicked things off to make it 1-0 on a nice pass from Seguin after a strong bit of offensive zone possession by the Steel-Duchene-Seguin line. Great pass from Seguin to slip the puck to Lyubushkin, too.

Wyatt Johnston made it 2-0 with a shot that probably doesn’t go in on Jordan Binnington (unless he was distracted or screaming at a hot dog vendor or something).

Dylan Holloway made it 2-1 after an icing (IIRC) with traffic in front.

Philip Broberg then made it 2-2 as Rantanen and Hintz perhaps did not expend every last bit of defensive effort they might have done were this a regular season game.

Faksa then put Dallas back ahead 3-2 after Wyatt Johnston got a friendly bounce after some vicious stickhandling. Another one off a certain player’s skate:

Justin Hryckowian then made a 4-2 score possible, with Tyler Seguin burying the rebound. He goes to the net, you know.

St. Louis got back to 4-3 after Holloway again benefited from the top line’s not quite sorting out a Rantanen turnover. Again, I chalk this up to It’s the Preseason.

5-3, Jason Robertson, as Holloway does not cover himself in glory here. What can you really say about this one, other than “it happened?”

By the Way, Justin Hryckowian Looked Good Tonight

First, check out this nice shoulder check by Hryckowian before he commits to the forecheck in the corner. It’s a basic thing, but he does make absolutely sure that his linemates aren’t caught too deep before he pursues, and I like that little bit of extra awareness.

And how about a little bit of Set ‘Em Up/Mix It Up by the player with fights in two straight NHL preseasons?

Mikko Rantanen Is Still Good at Hockey, Though

Exhibit A: You Cannot Take the Puck From Me

Exhibit B, where Rantanen facilitates an odd-man rush by maintaining position along the half-wall to send Hintz and Harley in on a 2-on-1:

Exhibit C: This Is a Nice Pass

It Wasn’t All Perfect

Nice save by DeSmith here, though I think Harley, Lundkvist, and Seguin probably would like a do-over:

Bastian got a great up from Lindell, but he eventually tried pass instead of shot, and it went for naught. Still, you like to see the fourth line getting chances:

Nils Lundkvist Check-In

It was probably a solid enough game by Lundkvist overall, but this clip below was not the best play by Lundkvist under pressure. You’d like to see him use his legs to get a little bit better angle here before unloading the puck with so many options available, I think.

For balance, we have two final clips. First, here’s a solid one-on-one play by Lundkvist to poke the puck away and then take his man into the boards afterward.

And here’s a really nice shift by Lundkvist to defend Lucic (which isn’t hard these days, granted), but then to have the legs to join the rush the other way for a great chance. Have you heard about his conditioning? I’m told it’s Very Good.