Tonight is one of the biggest games the Dallas Stars will play all season long. It's not because they are hosting the Colorado Avalanche at the American Airlines Center; it's because it's #1 vs. #2 in the NHL. The Stars are putting their ten-game winning streak on the line against one of the toughest teams to defeat. However, before we even get into tomorrow's matchup, we have to talk about the latest injury updates from practice this morning.
It was reported that Mikko Rantanen hasn't even resumed skating since the Winter Olympics ended. He got hurt in the semifinal game against Team Canada in the third period. While the Stars' offense hasn't skipped a beat since the injury, the fact that his timeline keeps getting pushed back should be worrisome to the Stars faithful. The last thing the Stars need going into the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is no Rantanen in the lineup. While he's expected to be back before then, some fans are probably worried about the latest report.
With Rantanen still in recovery, don't be surprised if the Stars were to make one more trade using the five million dollars they have left after putting Tyler Seguin on the SELTIR. Flames' Blake Coleman is a name that would really fit into the Stars' lineup. Being a native Texan and all, it would be nice after trading for Tyler Myers yesterday. It would be cool to have two Texas natives in the lineup going down the final stretch of the regular season. It would also be the franchise's first having a Texas native in the lineup.
The other injury on the Stars' roster right now is Radek Faksa. He was also injured while representing Team Czechia at the Winter Olympics. It seemed like he was gunning for playing in tomorrow's game or Sunday against the Chicago Blackhawks, but all of a sudden, those odds have gone down drastically. I'm even more concerned about Faksa's injury because of all the little things he does outside of scoring. While Esa Lindell is an elite penalty killer, Faksa is up there with him.
I'm not ready to send the Stars into DEFCON 1 status, but with today's latest injury reports, it might be time to get a tad worried about how the rest of the regular season is going to go. However, the Stars are doing well offensively despite Rantanen being out. Sam Steel went on a hat-trick watch the other night, and Nathan Bastian is starting to get hot as well. If the Stars can continue getting points from the bottom two lines, the Stars should be in great shape.