FRISCO, Texas — Dan Hamhuis could return to the Dallas Stars lineup on Saturday against the Colorado Avalanche.
Hamhuis missed the past two games with a groin injury and had his first full skate with the team Friday. Stars coach Ken Hitchcock said the team would see how Hamhuis responds in morning skate and if he’s at 100 percent he’ll play.
“It’s good to be back, it’s never fun being out,” Hamhuis said. “Needed a couple days there to settle down and fortunate it came back real quick.”
That could mean Jamie Oleksiak or Stephen Johns would be the healthy scratch.
“It could be anybody, it could be Oleksiak, but it could be anybody,” Hitchcock said.
Johns was skating with Hamhuis, a good indicator he’s the favorite to play with the veteran, while Oleksiak was skating on the fourth pair with Greg Pateryn.
The rest of the defense will also be slightly shuffled. Hitchcock said that John Klingberg would play with Marc Methot against the Avalanche, while Julius Honka was skating on a pair with Esa Lindell.
“The switch is that Methot will switch with Klingberg,” Hitchcock said. “While I think Klinger is getting targeted, so we’re looking for more sturdy guy, a veteran presence that’s going to have to talk him through some stuff. I don’t mean he’s getting run over, I mean they are going over and getting him hemmed in.”
And Methot’s communication skills are the fix.
“We can help him if we communication through and exit a little cleaner,” Hitchcock said. “They worked in training camp together and Methot was a good voice for him.”
Practice lines
Gemel Smith* — Tyler Seguin — Alexander Radulov
Mattias Janmark — Jason Spezza — Brett Ritchie
Remie Elie — Martin Hanzal — Devin Shore
Antoine Roussel — Radek Faksa — Tyler Pitlick
Marc Methot — John Klingberg
Esa Lindell — Julius Honka
Dan Hamhuis — Stephen Johns
Jamie Oleksiak — Greg Pateryn
Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen
*Jamie Benn had the day off as a maintenance day and will play Saturday.
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