DALLAS — It’s been a step-by-step process with Mattias Janmark.
Recovering from a pair of knee surgeries to correct a genetic disorder the 24-yead-old Swede can’t rush things.
So the Stars have broke his progress into steps. First it was simply a return to skating, how would he hold up?
Things progressed from there. How about the first practice? What about the first hit? What about live action in an NHL game?
Janmark passed the most recent test in a 5-3 preseason win against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.
He scored on a rush in the first period, had an assist in the third, didn’t look uncomfortable when dealing with hits, and looked like the efficient speedy forward that the Stars relied so much on during the 2015-16 season.
“It was nice, it was fun,” Janmark said. “Felt good. First period was tough, played quite a lot. There was a lot of penalty killing and a lot of skating, I was really tired and didn’t know how I’d get through the game. But then the second period kind of got my power back and felt even better in the third.”
Janmark also had nice chemistry with Devin Shore. The duo haven’t played much together in the past, but they both play a similar game and fed off each other well against St. Louis. It’s something to keep an eye as the Stars start to build lines for the regular season.
Postgame video
Caamano continues to impress
Nicholas Caamano has had a nice run of play dating back to the NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City and that continued in his NHL preseason debut.
Caamano scored in the second period and was noticeable throughout the game, even though he only had 5 minutes, 14 seconds of ice time.
“It was definitely nice getting that first goal out of the way there,” Caamano said. “I thought my line when we were out there we were playing pretty good. It was kind of a feel out for me, but I thought I did really well.”
This came two days after he had earned the opportunity to play in this game with a strong showing in the future prospects scrimmage in Cedar Park.
“I like him, I like him a lot. He’s He’s got moxie,” Hitchcock said. “He’s a 19-year-old kid and he’s got the moxie of an older player. He’s made a great account of himself. Nobody in this world thought he would have hung in this long, he’s still here and when we play on Thursday he’s still gonna be here again, so that’s a good sign.”
Hitchcock said that Caamano will play again in the preseason game on Thursday against the Colorado Avalanche.
Special teams
With 19 minor penalties combined the Stars special teams were busy on Tuesday.
Dallas went 1-for-8 on the power play and 9-for-11 on the penalty kill.
Hitchcock felt the penalty kill was a strength.
“I thought it was really good,” Hitchcock said. “I thought for the most part that was the best of our game. We negated a lot of the momentum, we took their skill players out.”
The power play looked a bit rusty and out of sync in it’s first game. The zone entries weren’t crips and Dallas struggled to create sustained possession off the drop-pass entry.
“They did the same to us,” Hitchcock said. “We couldn’t get it in what we we’re trying to do. I thought it was hard, at times well-played, and I thought it was a very scrambly hockey game. But it was really good evaluation for us.”
Goaltending debuts
Ben Bishop made 12 saves on 15 shots in two periods of work in his Stars debut. Bishop couldn’t be faulted for any of the goals and did a nice job moving the puck as a stickhandler.
Mike McKenna entered the game in the third period and stopped all shots to pick up the win.
The goals:
First period
3:19 Wade Megan scored on a rebound after Ben Bishop failed to corral his initial shot. Blues 1, Stars 0
11:14 Sameul Blais set up Klim Kostin with a backhand pass the 2017 first-round pick easily scored his first preseason goal. Blues 2, Stars 0
11:47 Mattias Janmark drove down the left side of the offensive zone and picked the corner over Carter Hutton’s shoulder. Stephen Johns had the assist. Blues 2, Stars 1
Second period
4:11 Nick Caamano scored on a rebound near the post after an initial shot by Denis Gurianov. The goal came right after a Stars power play had ended. Stars 2, Blues 2
12:15 Samuel Blais scored during a 5-on-3 power play taking advantage of open space on top of the crease. Blues 3, Stars 2
Third period
8:04 Brett Ritchie scored on a rush with a wrist shot. This came one shift after he had been in the box. Stars 3, Blues 3
12:19 Jamie Benn scored on the power play on a double deflection after a shot-pass from Julius Honka at the point was redirected by Tyler Seguin. Alexander Radulov did a nice job holding the puck down low before making a pass to Honka. Stars 4, Blues 3
18:16 Tyler Pitlick scored into the empty net. Stars 5, Blues 3
Stars lineup:
Jamie Benn — Tyler Seguin — Alexander Radulov
Mattias Janmark — Devin Shore — Brett Ritchie
Antoine Roussel — Jason Dickinson — Tyler Pitlick
Nick Caamano — Roope Hintz — Denis Gurianov
Esa Lindell — John Klingberg
Marc Methot — Stephen Johns
Jamie Oleksiak — Julius Honka
Ben Bishop
Mike McKenna
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