Lineup shuffling is the theme again tonight, and the Dallas Stars took the biggest hit with Wyatt Johnston scratched just before puck drop against Colorado because of illness.
That’s a rare sight. The 23-year-old center had not missed a game since making his NHL debut against the Predators on October 13, 2022, when he scored a goal and never really looked back.
Johnston has played all 82 games in each of the last four seasons, and last year he put together a monster breakout with 45 goals and 86 points. For Dallas, that kind of reliability has become part of his identity.
Without Johnston, the Stars bumped Sam Steel up to second-line center behind Roope Hintz. There was a brief moment when it looked like Dallas might dress seven defensemen, with Kyle Capobianco filling out the group, but Lia Assimakopoulos of Dallas News later noted that the 29-year-old is actually lining up as a forward tonight.
The setup points to some shifts on the fourth line next to Radek Faksa, giving the stay-at-home lefty an unusual season debut. Capobianco has a career high of nine points, and at 6-foot-3 he can still help by getting to the net when he gets his chances.
Johnston’s Ironman run - the ninth-longest in the league - comes to an end for now, though he could be back against Colorado again in 24 hours when the teams head to Denver for the rematch.
There were other injury notes around the division, too. Mavrik Bourque was a game-time decision for Nashville because of an upper-body injury, but Beat Reporter Brooks Bratten reported he would not play tonight against Vegas.
Bourque is still searching for his first goal as a Predator, though he did collect an assist on a Nils Höglander goal last week. He left the Montreal game five days ago after just 8:15 of ice time.
With Bourque out, Vitali Pinchuk moves into the third-line center spot alongside Jonathan Marchessault after working with him in camp.
Colorado is dealing with its own absences. Zachary L’Heureux remains out against Dallas as he continues to work through the upper-body issue that kept him out of the first two games of the season.
The former first-round pick, acquired from the Predators over the offseason, finally made his Avalanche debut against Winnipeg and followed that up with an assist in Calgary one night later. He took warm-ups before being ruled a late scratch, and the expectation is that he should be back by the end of the week.
The Avalanche are also missing Cale Makar for family reasons, leaving them to play with 17 skaters.
In Other News...
Avalanche Face Dallas With Bednar Staff Suddenly In Question
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What makes the timing notable is how quickly this could come together. Hakstols situation has not been resolved publicly, but the possibility of a move has introduced a little extra uncertainty around a team that is trying to keep its focus on Dallas and the next stretch of the season, even as another chapter for one of its assistants may be taking shape very soon. [Read more 🡒]
Former Avalanche Champion Hospitalized After Frightening In-Game Incident
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Wild coach John Hynes said Sturm was still being evaluated after the incident and would not travel with the team to Winnipeg for its next game. For Colorado fans who remember Sturm as one of the depth pieces in that title run, the immediate concern now is his condition and how long he might be sidelined after such a scary in-game moment. [Read more 🡒]
Patrick Roy Arrived And The Avalanche Were Never The Same
Patrick Roys arrival in Colorado came at a moment when the Avalanche were still finding their footing in their first season after moving from Quebec, and the trade instantly changed the shape of the franchise. He came over from Montreal on Dec. 6, 1995 and brought a championship pedigree to a team that suddenly looked far more dangerous in net, giving Colorado the kind of presence that can alter a season in real time.
The move was more than just a splashy addition, because Roys stay with the Avalanche turned into one of the defining stretches of the clubs early history. He helped lead Colorado to a Stanley Cup that same season and eventually finished his career with four titles before retiring in 2003, a reminder of how quickly one acquisition can become part of a teams identity. [Read more 🡒]