According to Chris Kerber during an interview on 1380, Lee Stempniak will miss his third straight game tonight as the Dallas Stars visit the Scottrade Center ( Click here to listen to the interview (mp3)). Am I the only one starting to get a little concerned about Stempniak? On one side, he hurt the knee early in the season opener and did end up finishing the game after disappearing from the bench for a short time. On the other side, we haven’t gotten any news that he’s gotten better and a few days has already turned into a week.

Better Starts

I think everyone would agree we’re still trying to figure this team out. If you throw out the first period of the last two games, not only is this team undefeated but we’re all feeling a lot more optimistic about the season. Of course it doesn’t work like that. All three periods count and when you start two games in a row in a 3-0 hole, you really don’t deserve to be undefeated. That trend needs to stop tonight. The Stars played last night in Dallas so there would be absolutely no excuse to get off to a slow start against what should be a tired team. Marty Turco played last night and he wasn’t particularly strong, so I’d expect Stephan Tobias to be between the pipes for the Stars.

Avery vs. Janssen

If the preseason game between the Stars and the Blues was an indication of what to expect tonight, there will be plenty of penalty minutes being racked up tonight. The last time we saw Sean Avery and Cam Janssen on the ice together Avery was turtle on the ice and Janssen was pounding on him... which amusing enough was right after Avery scored a goal. Expect Steve Ott and Barret Jackman to get into the mix as well.

Pietrangelo’s Play

Opinions on Alex Pietrangelo’s play throughout the first three games seem to be mixed. I think he’s played well. Sure, he’s made some rookie mistakes. He’s an 18 year old defenseman in the NHL and you’d be unreasonable to expect perfection. The question that will have to get answered soon is whether he’s going to stay in the NHL or be sent back to his junior team after he plays his ninth game. Through three games, I don’t think there’s any question that you keep him here. Steve Wagner hasn’t been good enough to justify losing Pietrangelo’s offensive ability on the blue line. What do you guys think? Does he stay or go?

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