Tuesday Dallas Stars Roundup: Matt Duchene Out, Oskar Bäck on the Ice, and the Inherent Sacrifices of a Fourth-Line Mentality

Plus: How much does AHL chemistry translate to NHL play?

Matt Duchene and Oskar Bäck look on as the Stars take morning skate at American Airlines Center.

After returning to play over the weekend in St. Louis, Matt Duchene will miss his second game of the year tonight.

Glen Gulutzan said Duchene is “day to day” as he continued to deal with the residual effects of the high hit he took from Jake Middleton last Tuesday against Minnesota. Duchene did participate in morning skate initially, but he sat out for line rushes and power play practice.

Also notable is the fact that Duchene was wearing a tinted visor—different from his normal, clear one—which is something players like Daniel Sprong have done to help with light sensitivity issues in the past. To be clear, however, we don’t know if that’s why Duchene is using one right now.

Now, it’s also important to note that Duchene doesn’t appear to be in concussion protocol, as a positive concussion diagnosis would have required a graded return-to-play progression over the span of several days. Duchene has been skating and practicing fairly regularly, including at morning skate on Thursday before playing Vancouver. He also practiced on Friday before playing on Saturday in St. Louis, though he didn’t practice yesterday.

Whatever symptoms Duchene is dealing with, clearly he and the Stars are deciding to take it one day at a time. And this early in the season, that certainly seems wise.

As a result of Duchene’s absence tonight, the Stars have the bare minimum of 20 healthy players for their roster tonight. As best I could parse the couple of quick rushes up and down the ice, the Stars were skating with this forward lineup—though don’t be surprised if you see some changes tonight:

Seguin-Hintz-Rantanen
Robertson-Johnston-Bourque
Hryckowian-Steel-Blackwell
Erne-Faksa-Bastian

Additionally, Esa Lindell was working with the second power play unit this morning, along with Thomas Harley, Tyler Seguin, Mavrik Bourque, and Sam Steel. (As always, however, Mikko Rantanen could stay out for both sets, depending on how the first one goes.)

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In slightly more positive news, Oskar Bäck also joined the team for morning skate, marking the first time he’s practiced with the rest of the team in any context since he suffered an injury in the preseason.

Like Duchene, Bäck sat out for power play/penalty kill work and line rushes. After morning skate, Gulutzan confirmed that Bäck is still around six or seven days from returning to the lineup.

“Yeah, it’s the next step, practicing with us,” Gulutzan said of Bäck. “He’ll be practicing with us now for the next few days. So, hopefully, maybe a week, we can see him sometime. Hopefully sooner, but probably a week.”

But enough with the injuries. Let’s hear what some of the other players have to say.

Lian Bichsel and Alex Petrovic’s Chemistry