Healthy Stars give team chance to shine
Associated Press
DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars will have an unusual lineup in
the second round of the playoffs. For the first time this season,
they'll have all their best players.
Jere Lehtinen and Sergei Zubov, who have spent most of their
time lately in the trainer's room, are expected to return the next
time the Stanley Cup champions take the ice. The Stars will play
either Colorado or San Jose, with the first two games at Reunion
Arena.
|  | | Defenseman Sergei Zubov should be ready to play in the next round. |
Dallas wrapped up its first-round series against the Edmonton
Oilers in five games with a 3-2 victory Friday night.
"To get out in five games is huge," center Joe Nieuwendyk
said. "Now we get a bit of a breather and can refocus for the next
series."
The Stars avoided a trip back to Edmonton and earned the right
to spend Easter weekend at home with their families. Coach Ken
Hitchcock gave the team Saturday and Sunday off.
"The more rest we get, the better," said Brett Hull, whose
postseason revival continued with the series-winning goal. "That's
a team that's hard to play and very physical. There are a lot of
guys on this team with a lot of bruises."
Bruises are one thing. Broken bones, torn ligaments and other
internal damage have dogged Dallas all season, making the injury
report a better barometer of the team's status than the stat sheet.
The Stars lost 394 man-games to injuries, more than double the
181 lost during their championship season. Most of the wounded were
top players, too.
Lehtinen, a defensive forward who embodies the two-way style the
team is built around, played just 17 regular season games because
of a series of ankle injuries.
He had a fracture, then rushed his recovery and hurt it again.
He missed another 35 games then played in the regular-season finale
in hopes of tuning up for the playoffs. Instead, it made him
realize he needed more time off.
Lehtinen missed the Edmonton series and his return seemed up in
the air until Hitchcock made a surprise announcement late Friday
night.
"Nobody knew this, but Lehtinen has been skating the last three
days," the coach said. "If he continues to progress, he's a
player in the next series."
Zubov supposedly was to return from a sprained knee ligament
when the series went to Edmonton, then there was a 50-50 chance he
was going to play Friday night. Now, Hitchcock says he'll
definitely be back the next round.
The Stars have missed him most on their power play, which he
usually triggers. The unit has just four goals in 48 tries since he
went down in late March.
Blake Sloan, whose fast feet and aggressive style make him a
real pest to opponents, was lost "indefinitely" after breaking
his jaw Tuesday night in Edmonton. That timetable was changed to
"back for the second round" after he had two plates inserted
Friday.
"We have a chance to start the next series with our whole
team," Hitchcock said.
As great as it sounds for the Stars to have back their regulars,
they've been doing pretty well without them.
Fill-in players such as rookie Brenden Morrow, free agent signee
Kirk Muller and Sylvain Cote, a midseaason acquisition from
Chicago, have made nice contributions and learned to play with a
variety of players.
Roles will be redefined and playing time will be adjusted to
accommodate Lehtinen and Zubov. The stakes are too high to ease
them back in the lineup, although it's impossible to expect them to
be at full strength yet.
Dallas players and coaches insist that the team is better off
having survived those absences.
Soon, they'll get a chance to prove it. |
