The Dallas Stars suffered their first loss of a four game road trip Friday night in Pittsburgh as the Penguins took them down by a score of 3-1, but the defeat was more costly than surrendering two points to an Easteren Conference foe.
Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski left the game in the first period with a hand injury after a shot from former Duck Chris Kunitz struck him.
"I think it was my second shift of the game," said Goligoski. "Chris Kunitz kind of rolled up high, I was kind of shadowing him out there, and he took a little turnaround shot and the puck kind of got me on the wrong spot on the hand. It happens. It's tough, tough place to do it, too. It's part of the game."
Mark Fistric would leave the game later after being struck in the throat with a puck. It was an unlucky night for the Dallas Stars all around, though Fistric would eventually return. He should be a player going forward, though he apparently had some difficulty breathing as the game went on. The Stars played much of the game with only four defensemen.
Adam Pardy will come into the lineup tomorrow well rested and ready to help, but Goligoski leaves a gap in skill sets that Pardy and Fistric do not fill, including much special teams play. If Goligoski is to be out for an extended period, we'll expect a call up from Cedar Park.
"He's going to have some X-rays, but I think he's going to be out for a little bit," said Stars coach Glen Gulutzan. Goligoski will fly home directly to Texas, bypassing the team's stop in Detroit.
We'll await word tomorrow morning of any placement on IR for Goligoski, but Ott is on IR currently and they could call up a player at a moments notice. The natural choice to fill a Goligoski-like role is Philip Larsen. The Texas Stars played last night in Austin, and are schedule to do so again on Saturday back to back. Our guess is that the Stars use the six d-men available to them tomorrow night, assuming Fistric is alright, and make a call up during the two day off period following, but who's to say?
How would you make your pairings from Robidas, Souray, Daley, Grossman, Pardy and Fistric?