Not sure if you posted this, but Jamie Benn will not be in the line-up tonight vs. St. Louis due to visa issues.

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12 H2H w/ daily changes.
G,A,+/-,PPP,SOG,W,GAA,Sv%.
Keep 6 (5 F/D, 1 D/G) Start 2C, 2LW, 2RW, 3D, 2Util, 2G

C: Getzlaf, Bergeron, Roy, Boyes (RW)
LW: Kovalchuk (RW), Vanek, Lucic
RW: Gaborik, Callahan, C. Stewart, Tarasenko, Chiasson
D: Yandle, Doughty, Goligoski, Carlson
G: Fleury, Varlamov, Markstrom
IR:

I had mentioned a couple days back that he was unlikely to play tonight, but I'm glad you brought that back up as a reminder to Benn owners not start him just yet. Haven't gotten official word, but Monday has been the target date since the announcement of his signing.

Good catch and thanks for reminding folks.

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Line combos from warmups....

Well this should be interesting. Hopefully they can at least battle hard and stay with the Blues for a while. Games like this are character builders, we'll see how much they have during and after.

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All things considered, a 4-3 loss against a team like the Blues isn't that bad. In spite of the loss and some of the same recurring issues, the Stars acquitted themselves nicely in this one.

Let's start out with the positives, which in this case I think were plentiful. The obvious one being, the Stars came out and fought hard right from the opening. They took the fight to the Blues instead of coming out flat and leaning on the fact that they were short three of their top-six forwards to mail it in. That showed a lot of character and bodes well for the future.

The energy that was present in Detroit, but gone against Chicago was back. They came out strong and appeared to catch the Blues flat-footed in the first. St, Louis may have thought with the injuries wrecking havoc on the lineup that the Stars would be easy pickings. Their not shaping up to be a team that's going to be intimidated by the opposition or a little adversity.

The special teams units played good, especially the penalty kill, shutting down the league's top power play unit, and the Stars power play notching a goal of their own in route to a 1-for-4 night.

Nilstorp was lights out again in the early going, before being victimized three times in the middle frame. He did leave midway through the third period with a groin injury. He tweaked it while stretching out to stop a wraparound attempt. He gave way to Lehtonen, but not before fighting through the obvious pain and making a few more key saves to keep the Stars in it.

Now on to the negatives. Turnovers in their own end doomed the Stars, as the Blues came out stronger in the second, while being gifted with plenty of easy opportunities. One thing that the Stars have struggled with from what I've seen is not being able to get the puck out of their own end cleanly in transition. They keep gifting their opponents with great chances in close and that just keeps biting them.

That has also led in no small measure to the outrageous shots-against numbers, but tonight was their best night of the young season in terms of that. They allowed 31 which marks the fewest number of shots surrendered so far.

Another area, but one that will be harder to change, is not clearing out in front of goal. On at least two of the goals, the Redden goal and Perron's first, players were camped out and from what I saw not really getting harassed all that much.

A lot of that stems from the dearth of big bodies for the Stars on defense. They
re at a disadvantage against the bigger forwards in the league, but barring a trade for some big guys there, that will continue to be an issue. The turnovers are the bigger issue though and that can, and should, improve with more games and guys getting back into shape and getting acclimated.

Something else to consider here. Five games in now, and each and every one has been a one goal affair. That will pay dividends as the seasons rolls on since the only game where they have truly been outclassed from start to finish was against Chicago. And even at that they took the Hawks to OT before falling. Lots of good coachable moments there.

Look at tonight's game, they were down by two, the most they've trailed by all season, and yet it was a hustle play with Morrow and Garbutt that got them right back into it late in the game. That will be big mentally for the kids.

I'll try and keep these shorter in the future and start to talk more about individual players. I'm still trying to teach myself to multi-task while watching. I'll start out wanting watch an individual player and end up watching the team as a whole instead. Need to watch the game, then back up and re-watch it and look at individuals. Anyway, sorry again for the War and Peace length.

Beers to ya....

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Hey NoWayOut, you think Eakin will get second line/pp minutes after Benn comes back? Eakin would be the number 2 with Roy out still correct? I noticed he took two crucial faceoffs in the last minute trying to tie the game today, this must bode well... I have Benn and recently picked up Eakin from the Wires!

With one or both of Benn and Roy out, he's earned the right to play on one of the top two lines and he will continue to get those chances with his current play. But when those two are healthy Eakin will center the third line with Morrow and Nystrom.

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I saw on Totoworld that Dallas has signed a goale, but didn't have a name associated with it because of the Nilhstrop injury? Any word on who it is? Aren't they just going to bring up Bachman?
Thanks for them help?

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16 team league, Weekly changes
32 Players play 20, 2 Goalies, 6 Def, 12 Fwd
2*G,1*a,+/-,.2* pim
4*W,-2*L,1*OTL,5*SO
17 Keepers *
Goal, Ward, Bryzgaloz, Bachman
Def, Leddy, Zidlicky, Green, Russell, Justin Shultz,
Kaberle, Wideman, Wisniewski, Shattenkirk
Fwd Iginla, Bouchard, Carter, Gerbe,
J.Staal, Toews, Wheeler, Stoll, Cammalleri,
Granlund, JJokinen, Pavelski, Voracek, Bozak, Little
Havlat, D.Sedin, Kulemin, Grabner, Purcell

Bachman has been recalled, and Nilstorp is headed to IR.

Watch how Bachman plays when he gets a start, this could heat up a battle for the backup job. One thing's for sure though, a lot of teams in the league would love to have these three netminders at their disposal.

No word on the exact severity of Nilstorp's injury or how long he's going to be out.

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Thanks for the clarification, just need Bachman to get in a few games. I guess he was really just sent down for conditioning. Appreciate the help.

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16 team league, Weekly changes
32 Players play 20, 2 Goalies, 6 Def, 12 Fwd
2*G,1*a,+/-,.2* pim
4*W,-2*L,1*OTL,5*SO
17 Keepers *
Goal, Ward, Bryzgaloz, Bachman
Def, Leddy, Zidlicky, Green, Russell, Justin Shultz,
Kaberle, Wideman, Wisniewski, Shattenkirk
Fwd Iginla, Bouchard, Carter, Gerbe,
J.Staal, Toews, Wheeler, Stoll, Cammalleri,
Granlund, JJokinen, Pavelski, Voracek, Bozak, Little
Havlat, D.Sedin, Kulemin, Grabner, Purcell

I think had the season started on time Bachman would have beaten Nilstorp, though it wouldn't have been easy as we've seen with Nilstorp's play. It was the fact that Bachman didn't play anywhere so he came in rusty. Meanwhile Nilstorp got to experience the North American game in the AHL, was in game shape, plus has all that pro experience in Europe to fall back on.

Nothings guaranteed for either one, and Bachman will have to bring his "A" game if he wants his seat back.

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