Defending Big D’s coverage of the 2015 IIHF World Championship continues again today with another update. The Dallas Stars have nine of their players currently participating in the tournament.
For information regarding results, stats, and videos, visit the official IIHF website.
Here’s a breakdown of how each Stars player is doing so far, separated by the countries that they are representing:
Canada
After being held without a point for his first two games Tyler Seguin has been red-hot ever since, scoring goals in four straight games and five in total over that span. Three of those tallies have come on the powerplay, the most of any player on the team. He’s playing on the team’s second line with Claude Giroux and Ryan O’Reilly.
Jason Spezza is also playing well as of late, picking up points in most of the games that he’s played in. He has seven points right now, and had two assists on two of Seguin’s powerplay goals, showing a little bit of Dallas connection between the two while playing for their home country.
Here are some familiar-looking highlights of the duo working the man-advantage:
Cody Eakin, not wanting to be outdone by his two linemates, is quietly doing very well for himself as well. He was healthy scratched against France so that Brayden Schenn could enter the lineup, but recorded a goal and an assist in his next game back against Switzerland. He has four points in five games.
Sweden
John Klingberg scored his first goal of the tournament in a close 4-3 win over Germany. He now has four points through six games, and leads the team in plus-minus with a +7 rating.
Jhonas Enroth only has a .890 save percentage right now, but has earned a victory in all four games that he’s started.
Finland
Esa Lindell continues to log big minutes on Finland’s blueline, with points to boot. He now has five points in five games, by far and away the most of any defender on the team.
Check out these highlights to see his most recent assist. Lindell really, really likes to shoot the puck:
Jyrki Jokipakka is averaging a little more than 10 minutes per game in ice time as one of the team’s seven regular defensemen.
France
The struggles of France, and Antoine Roussel in particular, continue. The French team has only won one game so far, and Roussel, their top player from last year’s event, has yet to find the official scoresheet (although Roussel was, bizarrely, not credited with an assist for a France goal that came off of his deflected shot in a game against Canada. Re-watch the Canada-France video at the 1:28 mark).
United States
Jack Campbell starred in his first start of the tournament, but didn’t fare so well in his second match, allowing five goals in a 5-2 upset loss at the hands of Belarus. With a .825 save percentage right now it’s entirely possible that the team’s other netminder, Connor Hellebucyk, who has a .969 save percentage, will be the USA’s go-to goalie from here on out.