that is where he belongs. he shouldn't be on the powerplay either, and will probably lose his spot once roy returns.

So far the bounce-back I thought was coming has been nothing more than a huge splat.

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A few tidbits to get the ball rolling today.

- With Jamie Oleksiak ready to make his NHL debut tonight he got a parting gift from the AHL, Rookie of the Month for January.....

http://starsinsideedge.com/2013/02/0...h-for-january/

- Derek Roy and Cristopher Nilstorp both skated today in practice. Glen Gulutzan said he thought there was an 80% chance Roy could return Monday against the Avs. Nilstorp is listed as day-to-day.

- Today's line combos and defensive pairings, plus some info on Antoine Roussel and the expectations for Jamie Oleksiak.....

http://starsblog.dallasnews.com/2013...y-monday.html/

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A little late with the recap for last nights game, very abbreviated because of it, but here we go.

- One thing I do want to mention before I get started. As you may already know Ray Whitney is headed to the IR and Reilly Smith has been called up from Austin to fill in. Possibility of top six minutes for Smith? Or is this a brief escape from purgatory for Morrow? We'll see later today what Gulutzan did with lines in the morning(afternoon) skate.

- All eyes were on Jamie Oleksiak as he made his NHL debut. I think it was a good debut for him. He didn't go out and try to wow anybody, just played a solid, steady game. He did have one turnover, but other than that he just went out and played within himself.

- The other rookie, Antoine Roussel made a rather more splashy debut. Check out his first NHL goal if you haven't seen it yet....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyuO7pdRqKc

Not too shabby for a guy who's an agitator and PIM machine. He did post decent offensive numbers in the QMJHL, but that hasn't translated so far in the AHL. This season has been by far his best in the AHL, he's seventh on the Texas Stars with 19 points, so maybe he's just a late bloomer at the pro level.

- Brenden Dillon keeps looking better and more comfortable with each game. He picked up his first points in the NHL with a goal and a helper. For good measure he went ahead and completed the Gordie Howe hatty. That Howe hat-trick was the first by a Stars player since Brenden Morrow did it just over seven years ago, also against Phoenix. Just a thought out loud, why not slot the kid in on one of the PP units? Maybe he can provide that booming shot that Angus pointed out is missing on the back end.

- The PK units continue to get the job done, blanking the red-hot Yotes on all three power-plays. So far of the six pp goals allowed, five have come in just two games. If only they could play with that same aggression they use to kill penalties on the power-play and even strength.

That's all I've got at the moment. I should have posted this right after the game while everything was still fresh in my mind. Yesterday I was out of my normal routine all day, and when that happens I never find that groove.

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More news and notes:

Also from Heika

A preview video from Razor. He does these before every game, but I hadn't included them until now. The burn at the end on the Coyotes is the reason this one makes the cut. Damn near had me on the floor laughing....

http://video.stars.nhl.com/videocent...198274&lang=en

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Things just got a shove into interesting....

I know some are disappointed that Reilly Smith isn't getting the spot, but here's that opportunity to see if Morrow still has it, and if so showcase him. Mike also answered an earlier tweet about Morrow's captaincy and time with the Stars. He answered back that the "C" is Morrow's as long as he's a Star, but that he sees Brenden's time in Dallas coming to an end before this season is over.

Mike Heika is well connected inside the Stars, so you've got to believe he wouldn't put that out there unless it's seriously on the table.

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The more things change, the more they stay the same. Another second game of a back-to-back, and another loss. The Stars are now 0-3 this season in those games and 1-14-2 dating back to last season.

Not really much to touch on here, after what was a promising start. The Stars looked like the better team in the first. They had more energy, were creating turnovers not committing them, but they just couldn't generate any offense. They let the Yotes hang around, and from the second period on, it was all Phoenix. What started so promising, ended so ugly.

- Penalties were again a problem. The Stars were shorthanded seven times in this one, but luckily the PK was able to do it's thing again and continue to be a lone bright spot. They finished the night 1-for-7 on the penalty kill.

- 17. That was the total number of shots-on-goal in the game for Dallas. The second was absolutely horrendous, with Dallas only putting three on net. The first of those three was at roughly the 1:30 mark, the next two came inside the final minute of the period, over 17 straight minutes without a shot-on-goal. Oh they took shots, wide, into a wall of humanity, everywhere but on net.

- 7. That's how many Stars players registered a shot. Nine of those shots came from the top line of Morrow/Benn/Jagr, and Morrow contributed zero to that total. Roussel(2), Smith(1), and Vincour(1), were the only other forwards to put pucks on net.

- Bachman for his part looked good, and like Lehtonen and Nilstorp, was really the main reason they were even in this one. Bachman finished with 32 saves on 34 shots. Goaltending has been the only other positive, aside from the PK, throughout the first nine games.

It's still early, and they have yet to ice their full top-six even once this season, but some tough questions are going to have to be asked to find the answers to turn things around.

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Shaking things up a bit here...

Obviously it's official, Roy is back in action. Vincour gets a big promotion and Reilly Smith gets a chance to reunite with Eakin on the third line. We'll see what kind of spark gets created with these moves. Just as important as trying to find some sort offensive jump-start, curious to see if they can stem the tide of penalties that have crippled them to open the season.

D pairings remain unchanged from Saturday....

Dillon-Robidas
Rome-Daley
Goligoski-Oleksiak

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Since when is Goligoski on the 3rd pairing? Should I be worried about him?

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He's been down there now for the last three or four games counting tonight. I think some degree of worry is warranted, he hasn't lit things up, but at the same time Gulutzan has not been shy about shaking things up trying to find the right combos and pairings. I wouldn't panic yet, things are still fluid so he could find his way back up to the first or second pairing again.

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