The Dallas Stars continue to make news, but this time it’s of the more traditional variety. The season always features ebbs and flows in terms of player health, and the Stars have hit a little bit of injury woes since the calendar flipped to 2020.
Top defenseman John Klingberg is still considered day-to-day with a lower body injury he apparently sustained in the Winter Classic. The star blueliner missed the team’s last game on Friday night against the Detroit Red Wings. Since he did not practice over the last couple of off days in the Stars’ schedule, it seems unlikely that Klingberg will play tomorrow night given that would be a week since he’s been on ice.
Roman Polak was reportedly sick at practice on Tuesday, leading to the team recalling Joel Hanley as the team embarked on a four-game road trip out west. In order to make room for the roster move, Klingberg was placed on injured reserve retroactive to the game on January 1st, which means he can return to the lineup tomorrow. The team has a back-to-back set to open the road trip that begins tomorrow night, so it is possible Hanley could see game action on the back end of that if Klingberg is still unable to go by Thursday night.
Winger Joel Kiviranta, who appeared in the Stars’ last game before being sent back to the AHL, was recalled yesterday to shore up the forward lines. He’s likely to draw into the lineup on the fourth line with Corey Perry serving the rest of his five-game suspension this road trip. Rick Bowness has indicated that his inclusion in the lineup over Justin Dowling has mainly to do with positioning (Dowling is a natural center).