The controversial play in the Sabres-Predators game in which Jordin Tootoo took a flying leap into goaltender Ryan Miller is getting most of the leaguewide attention right now. It has overshadowed a potential suspension of Stars' defenseman Mark Fistric for a hit on the New York Islanders' Nino Niederreiter in Saturday's 5-4 loss at the American Airlines Center.
On the play, Fistric left his feet and made contact with Niederreiter's head. It was actually a full-body check (i.e., the head was not the only point of contact) but whenever a player leaves his feet it becomes a dangerous and illegal play.
Fistric is generally a clean -- but very aggressive -- hitter but I think there's at least a 50-50 shot he'll get his first NHL suspension out of this one. Had his feet not left the ice, it would not have been a potentially suspendable hit.
With the Stars not playing again until Thursday -- a much-needed respite for a team that is racked with injuries and has played a lot of games the last few weeks -- Brendan Shanahan will probably wait until after he makes a ruling on Tootoo to address the play involving Fistric.
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The Stars hope to have Brenden Morrow and Trevor Daley back in the lineup when they play the Sharks on Thursday. Kari Lehtonen, Alex Goligoski and Adam Burish are all still a couple weeks away from being able to return from their injuries.
One key area of focus this week at practice for Glen Gulutzan's team will be the power play. Over the last 10 games, power plays opportunities have been neither plentiful (and average 2.5 per game) nor fruitful (1-for-25).
It bears repeating that the Stars need their top offensive talents to start producing again, both on the power play and at even strength. As noted yesterday:
* Jamie Benn is now pointless in each of last four games, and has been held pointless in eight of the last 10. He has just one goal in the last 12 games.
* Loui Eriksson has one goal in the last 10 games and has been held pointless in four of the last five games.
* Mike Ribeiro is getting his assists, as usual, but is still stuck on 2 goals for the entire season. At this stage of the season, when Benn and Ribeiro have combined for two fewer goals (8) than Nystrom has scored by himself, it creates an unsustainable situation if the Stars are to remain a playoff contender. That is especially true with all the injuries in the lineup.
* Sheldon Souray got turned inside out by Moulson on his second goal of the game. He has also stopped producing anything offensively (pointless in last 12) at a time when Alex Goligoski and now Trevor Daley have been out of the lineup.
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The Stars will be well-represented at the upcoming World Junior Championships in Alberta. There could be as many as four Dallas prospects on the rosters of the expected medal contenders.
Jack Campbell is a virtual lock to be the starting goalie for Team USA, while defenseman Jamie Oleksiak has been invited to Team Canada's extremely competitive roster selection camp. Meanwhile, defensemen Patrik Nemeth and John Klingberg (as expected) have been named to Sweden's roster.
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