DALLAS — The Stars received some answers Monday night.
As is usually the case in these situations, they were only partial answers.
In taking a 4-0 loss to the St. Louis Blues, Dallas found out that:
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Anton Khudobin is healthy in his first action since off-season surgery. That said, the veteran goalie allowed two goals on 13 shots in 20 minutes of ice time.
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Youngsters Wyatt Johnston and Logan Stankoven played well on a line with captain Jamie Benn, and the trio created some very nice scoring chances. That said, they didn’t finish and the Stars looked a little too familiar in struggling to put the puck in the net.
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And young defensemen seemed very comfortable in a new system that will ask them to join the play and make quick decisions. But St. Louis found too many cracks and was able to put pressure on early before settling into a more defensive brand of hockey.
“It’s a work in progress,” said new coach Pete DeBoer. “You want to win every game, but I think you’ve got to have some perspective on things. We’re coming out of a camp with a lot of new systems, and were maybe thinking a little too much, which is natural, which slows you down a little bit.
“The priority right now is to give everybody who is on the bubble the opportunity to make the team. I think that’s priority No. 1.”
DeBoer is bringing in a style of hockey that’s more aggressive than the Stars have played in the past. He wants to move the puck more quickly and in a manner that requires fast thinking. That requires some time to learn.
The Blues didn’t have the same talent level in their lineup Monday, but they had a familiarity with the system and a commitment from all of their players.
“That’s training camp,” DeBoer said. “I’ve been through this before, and it’s not going to be seamless. There’s going to be some hesitation until we get it and start to move that way. I’ve seen this before and I think we just have to stick with it. “
Two young defensemen who looked good Nils Lundkvist, 22, and Thomas Harley, 20. Harley played 22:45 and was even. Lundkvist played 21:51 and was minus-1. Both are battling for a spot in the lineup and both helped their cause on Monday.
“I think they want to play that way, and I think we could have easily had two or three goals tonight,” DeBoer said of the push to create scoring opportunities from the back end. “I’m not saying we deserved to win, but I thought we created enough to score some goals tonight.”
And now they set out to do that Tuesday in Tulsa when they face the Arizona Coyotes at the BOK Center. It’s a chance to continue the process of whittling down a large group, allowing bubble players to get a chance, and finding a way to set some positive feelings before the regular season starts.
“You’ve got more than tonight, obviously, but every opportunity you have to go out there, I get a chance to learn more about them and they get a chance to show me their stuff,” DeBoer said. “Some guys were good, some guys have a little more to show us.”
Notable
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Jake Oettinger played the second and third periods and allowed two goals on 15 shots.
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Ben and Esa Lindell led the way with four shots on goal apiece.
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Joseph Cecconi led the Stars with four hits and three blocked shots.
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Johnston led all forwards in time on ice at 18:15.
Up next: Stars vs. Coyotes
Tuesday, 7 p.m. CT
Where: BOK Center, Tulsa, Okla.
TV/radio: None
Tickets: View seats
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.
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