Day three of Dallas Stars was broken up into a veterans practice and a scrimmage between two squads of “kids.”
Veterans practice:
The beginning of the vets practice was spent in 5 on 2 and 5 on 3 line rushes. The unit of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Alexander Radulov with Marc Methot and John Klingberg worked well together and I’m eager to see that in the regular season.
Julius Honka was also included in this group, rotating into various pairings. With 8 defensemen on the roster ahead of him, it’s unlikely Honka sees significant time in the NHL this season, but he’s really showing he’s ready for a call up.
After a dry scrape, the vets came back out for special teams practice. Looks like our top power play unit could be Seguin, Benn, Jason Spezza, Radulov, and Klingberg. Also excited to see if Adam Cracknell gets more time penalty kill this season; he’s actually really good at it.
Scrimmage:
Texas Stars veteran Justin Dowling drew first blood in the scrimmage, bringing Team White up 1-0, off a nice assist from Brian Flynn. Gavin Bayreuther and Jason Robertson both had opportunities to take them up 2-0 on a penalty shot but Mike McKenna handled them easily. The Texas Stars should be okay on the shootout this season, hopefully. McKenna was signed via free agency on July 1 to provide some much needed veteran presence in net for the Texas Stars, and also to serve as a safety net for the big club.
Sheldon Dries had a tip in off a high shot from Dillon Heatherington to tie the game up. Dries signed with the Texas Stars in May after graduating from Western Michigan. Heatherington, a defenseman, was the Stars’ return for Lauri Korpikoski in a one-for-one trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Dowling scored another, because that’s what Dowling does, followed by a goal for Green from rookie Nicholas Caamano. Caamano was the second pick in the fifth round of the 2016 draft and spent most of last season in the OHL with the Flint Firebirds. He played six games with the Texas Stars, scoring three assists.
The second period was a goaltending battle between White replacement Philippe Desrosiers and Green’s McKenna. Despite some close chances, no one scored until the five minute mark, when Caamano scored while sliding across the zone on his knees. That’s the way to make yourself stand out, kid.
Caamano apparently broke Desrosiers’ force field, because Jason Robertson scored off an assist from Shane Hanna and Greg Rallo two minutes later, bringing the score up to Green 4-White 2. Robertson was the second round pick for the Stars in this year’s draft. Hanna was signed to an AHL contract in the spring after 4 years at Michigan Tech and 3 years in the BCHL.
Roope Hintz brought Green’s lead to 5-2 with 7 minutes left in the game off a feed from Denis Gurianov. Hintz was drafted by the Stars in 2015 and has been playing in the highest league in Finland before signing an entry level contract with the Stars this offseason.
The Stars ended the game with a shootout, with Bow and Desrosiers in net. The sixteen round shootout ended 3-2 for green with goals from Hintz, Gurianov and Austin Fyten for green and Gemel Smith and Dowling for white.