The Stars took a much-needed off-day yesterday but will return to practice today in preparation for tomorrow night's game against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the American Airlines Center.
Rookie defenseman Philip Larsen, who impressed with his puck-moving ability and posted a plus-7 rating in 19 games before sustaining a concussion, is now symptom-free after missing the last eight games. He will practice today with the team and, if all goes well, there's a good chance he'll be in the starting lineup tomorrow night against Tampa Bay.
There is also good news on the Jamie Benn front. The Stars' most important forward is feeling much better after undergoing an appendectomy late last week. He is definitely out for tomorrow's game. However, according to ESPN Dallas, there is a chance he can return for the final game before the All-Star break and a strong chance that he will be able to play in the All-Star Game.
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This week's
Across the Pond at NHL.com looks at the sudden emergence of AIK Stockholm linemates Robert Rosén and Richard Gynge.
There are apparently several NHL teams scouting the two late-blooming forwards. While the track record of similar players in the NHL is not great -- as the Stars could attest to after their experience with Fabian Brunnström and the Rangers have dealt with thus far with Mats Zuccarello-Aasen having trouble cracking the NHL lineup.
Nevertheless, every case is different and there are some players who've done OK in the NHL. Rosén is a smallish playmaking center while Gynge is a righthanded shooting sniper who scores most of his goals coming down his off-wing.
I do not foresee the Stars signing either player, but you never know.
On a somewhat related note, former Stars prospect Perttu Lindgren has had a hard time following up his SM-liiga scoring championship of last season. Unfortunately, he's been limited by injuries to 28 games (8 goals, 16 assists, 24 points) and has yet to score a goal this month, although he has four assists in seven games. Lindgren has been held without a point in the last two games after running off a three-game point streak for Lukko Rauma.
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