Dallas Stars Young Defenders Stepping Up Their Game

By Josh Clark |

Nov 25, 2016; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars defenseman Esa Lindell (23) skates against the Vancouver Canucks during the second period at the American Airlines Center. Lindell scores his first career NHL goal. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Stars are hitting the road for a four-game road trip spanning across three different divisions over the next six days. They are going to need all the help they can get from their young defensemen.

Things are about to get very hectic for the Dallas Stars.

After defeating the Vancouver Canucks in a strenuous and nail-biting affair on Friday night, the Stars took to the skies and traveled over to St. Louis, Missouri for a divisional matchup with the St. Louis Blues. The game is tonight at 7:00 p.m. at the Scottrade Center.

This is the second showdown of the season between the Stars and Blues, with Dallas cruising to an easy 6-2 victory back on November 3. But things have definitely changed.

The Blues have now tallied at least one point in each of their last nine home games. Their record of 12-7-3 is helping hold them in second place overall in the Central Division, while Dallas sits outside the playoff picture with a 9-8-5 record. A win tonight could push them back into the picture, but the Blues have proven that they won’t lay down easy, especially on home ice.

And tonight is just round one. The Stars have three more of these road games awaiting over the next six days in Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Colorado. That’s a lot of games in a little amount of time. That being said, Dallas is going to need all the help that they can get from their young defensemen.

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It looks as though they should be in pretty good hands. Esa Lindell, Stephen Johns, and Jamie Oleksiak are three of the central names in the “young” defender category for Dallas, and each one has shown massive improvements over the past few games.

Lindell had a bit of a slow start to the season, going in and out of the starting lineup and never really finding a consistent style of play. After hitting a -6 on-ice rating, the Stars sent him down to the AHL on November 17 to get some playing time and hopefully “gain some confidence” back in his game.

While down with the Texas Stars, Lindell skated in two games. He tallied one assist and posted a +3 rating.

When Johnny Oduya was placed on the IR on November 20, Dallas called Lindell back up. Since the call-up, he has skated in three games. The Stars have gone 2-1-0 with him back in the lineup. Lindell skated 21:46 in his first game back against the Minnesota Wild and took one shot on net. Two days later, he posted a -1 rating against the Nashville Predators.

But in the Stars’ most recent game, Lindell carried the blue line on his back. He scored his first NHL goal, tallied an assist, posted a +2 rating, and skated 21:13. His presence on the top pairing with John Klingberg definitely benefited the Dallas Stars in what became a 2-1 win over the Canucks.

Stephen Johns was a lot of the same as Lindell. The Stars sent Johns down to the AHL to gain his confidence back on Friday before the game against the Canucks. After posting a -3 rating against the Edmonton Oilers on November 19, Johns became one of the Stars’ defensive scratches for two straight games before being sent down.

He obviously took the demotion seriously. In two games on Friday and Saturday against the San Antonio Rampage, Johns scored three goals including the game winner for each contest. It will be interesting to see whether his play has truly improved or if it was nothing more than a successful weekend. Johns is not scheduled to play tonight against the Blues because of the busy weekend he just had in the AHL.

Meanwhile, Jamie Oleksiak is establishing himself as a regular starter in the Stars lineup. On Friday night, he skated 22:13, the most of any Stars player. He played extremely well alongside Jordie Benn and helped the Stars suffocate Vancouver when on the penalty kill.

“He was moving pretty good out there,” Stars head coach Lindy Ruff said after the game. “With his reach and stick, we’re trying to utilize that more on our penalty killing. He did a nice job.”

Next: Stars Kick Off Road Trip Against Blues

One thing is certain: the Dallas Stars will need all of their defensemen, both young and established, firing on all cylinders in this critical road trip against some high-powered offenses. For tonight, it looks as though the Stars will scratch Dan Hamhuis and Stephen Johns. This means that Dallas will be going with its youngest lineup on defense in who knows how long.

Ruff said that he plans to utilize all eight defensemen on the road trip. Now is the time for the young defense to shine at a critical point in the year. Are they up for the challenge?

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