Dallas Stars Lineup Taking Shape Tonight Against Florida

The American Airlines Center will be back in service tonight as the Dallas Stars take on the Florida Panthers in their fifth preseason game. For tonight’s game, the starting lineup for the Stars will finally look somewhat legitimate.

At morning skate in Dallas this morning, the Dallas Stars finally looked somewhat natural. It was almost a familiar lineup that Stars fans can once again put their trust in.

The Stars will face off with the Florida Panthers tonight, looking for their second win against the club and third win of the preseason. This will be their fifth of seven preseason games, with the final two scheduled for Thursday night versus Colorado and Friday night against Los Angeles in Las Vegas.

The lineup will showcase a number of familiar names, and even some complete units. First off and perhaps the biggest news of the day is that Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn will be starting in the left wing slot on the first line.

This will be Benn’s first time in a competitive setting since the Stars lost in game seven of the second round to the St. Louis Blues back on May 11th during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. In early July, Benn underwent surgery to repair a pulled stomach muscle and was sidelined until just recently when he began skating again. He had to miss the World Cup of Hockey, but skipped it in order to be fully ready for the regular season.

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Benn is also expected to play in one of the final two preseason games later this week.

When taking a look at the offense, there are multiple prospect names that stand out, especially down the middle. That is because head coach Lindy Ruff is trying to figure out which centers will be able to fill in the voids created by injury.

Over the past three weeks, the Dallas Stars have lost Tyler Seguin, Cody Eakin, and Mattias Janmark to separate injuries. According to Ruff, Seguin will be participating in more extensive and intense practices starting today in hopes that he will be ready for opening night.

“His level of practice is going to start ramping up today,” Ruff told Stars Inside Edge. “I know he was ready a month ago playing in the World Cup, but now it is you’ve got to restart your engines because he’s been off again for a good three, four weeks.”

Meanwhile, Eakin and Janmark will be out for extensive periods of time. Eakin is expected to be sidelined for another four weeks or so with a lower-body injury. Janmark, on the other hand, had successful surgery earlier this week and is on a five-to-six month recovery period.

Here is the projected lineup for tonight:

Jamie Benn – Radek Faksa – Patrick Eaves

Cole Ully – Justin Dowling – Brett Ritchie

Antoine Roussel – Adam Cracknell – Denis Gurianov

Curtis McKenzie – Gemel Smith – Matej Stransky

Esa Lindell – John Klingberg

Johnny Oduya – Patrik Nemeth

Jordie Benn – Stephen Johns

Antti Niemi

Maxime Lagace

While the forward group is still testing things out, the blue line seems pretty solidified. Those six defenders are projected to either be starters or healthy scratches this season.

It has been speculated all offseason that the Stars will run with eight defensemen this season, and these six names are all in the discussion. The only ones missing are Dan Hamhuis and Jamie Oleksiak. Which players will secure opening night spots has yet to be determined, but tonight will be an opportunity for each player to prove his value to the team.

Next: Stars News: Preseason Action And Roster Reductions

14 of the 20 names above have a strong shot at being in the lineup on opening night. So things are coming together, as you can probably tell. These final three games will hopefully help sort out all of the rest.

Tonight’s game will not be broadcasted on TV but will be on the radio at 1310 AM/96.7 FM The Ticket. Puck is scheduled to drop at 7:30.