The Dallas Stars aren’t tipping their hand on whether their first line star center Tyler Seguin will be in the lineup in Game 2 versus the Minnesota Wild. Seguin missed the last few weeks of the season and Game 1 on Tuesday night after suffering an Achilles laceration several weeks ago.
It’s possible that the Stars’ emphatic 4-0 win over the Wild in Game 1 gives head coach Lindy Ruff the confidence that his team can win and allow Seguin some additional time to get up to 100%. At the beginning of the series, Ruff said that if it had been a Game 7 Seguin would have started. It means he’s close, but if your team looks poised to go on a deep run, the last thing you want to do is risk injuring half of your most explosive offensive duo and potentially losing him for future games.
After getting dominated in Game 1, the Wild will be feeling the pressure to take this one to even the series before it shifts back to the Twin Cities on Monday for Game 3. They’ll have Erik Haula back in their lineup, which is a boost to the injury depleted Wild squad.
Lines at morning skate today were as follows, per the legendary Mike Heika of Dallas Morning News:
Jamie Benn – Cody Eakin – Patrick Sharp
Val Nichushkin – Jason Spezza – Patrick Eaves
Antoine Roussel – Radek Faksa – Ales Hemsky
Mattias Janmark – Vernon Fiddler – Colton Sceviour
Travis Moen – Tyler Seguin – Brett Ritchie
Heika reported that Seguin did not stay out late with the healthy scratches (Moen, Ritchie) so could go tonight if tapped.
Defensive pairings are looking the exact same as in Game 1. Healthy scratches on defense again will be Jordie Benn, Jamie Oleksiak, and Patrik Nemeth.