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Dallas Stars Scrimmage Observations: Tired Legs, but Entertaining End to a Good Camp

A good crowd gathered on Sunday for the final day of the 2014 Dallas Stars training camp, a full intra-squad scrimmage complete with Jeff K announcements and officiating in front of a lively crowd at the Fort Worth Convention Center. The teams featured nine forwards and five defensemen each, led by Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn for Team White and Jason Spezza and Ales Hemsky for Team Green — with Spezza’s team completing a nice comeback for a shootout victory.

It was the third scrimmage in as many days for Team Green and it was very obviously the last day of a tough and fast-paced camp. With a preseason game on Monday night against the St Louis Blues, it was clear as the game went on that tired legs and the desire to save some energy was having it’s effect on the pace of the scrimmage.

There were bursts of brilliance at times from Seguin (who had one heck of a snipe over Jussi Rynnas‘ shoulder) but both he and Benn both took it fairly easy for most of the game. This was a really good gritty battle for the younger players on the ice; along with a great test for all four goalies in a good game situation with lots of shots through traffic — along with a very high number of odd-man rushes.

John Klingberg looked like he was finally feeling truly healthy and had a very good game; several strong defensive plays were boosted by the offensive playmaking that had fans buzzing about him last preseason. Scott Glennie also had a great game, and showed the sort of two-way game he’s grown into as a pro — strong in his own zone along with an assist and the tying goal.

Jack Campbell also looked very sharp coming in for Kari Lehtonen, allowing just a lone goal by Tyler Seguin that was rather spectacular on the part of the Stars center. He showed off his athleticism with a pipe-to-pipe splits glove save on a Seguin-to-Garbutt one-timer, and was good in tracking the puck through traffic and not allowing another goal in the game — including the shootout.

The Stars will be back on the ice on Monday night in an actual, live preseason game at the American Airlines Center against the Blues. Hemsky and Spezza are set to play tomorrow night; we won’t know the full roster for the game until morning skate.

Talking Points