Miro Heiskanen’s night ended early in Washington, and the Dallas Stars are now waiting to see how much time they may have to manage without one of their most important defensemen.
Heiskanen was driven into the boards by Capitals forward Justin Sourdif on Tuesday night at Capital One Arena during his first shift of the second period. Dallas ruled the 27-year-old out for the rest of the game with an upper-body injury, and he finished with 9:41 of ice time in a 6-5 win.
By Wednesday, the NHL’s status report listed Heiskanen as questionable for Thursday’s game against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. The Stars said he is day-to-day.
Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said the team will take another look before making any decisions.
“We’re going to have him evaluated again,” Gulutzan said. “We’re hoping right now that it’s not as serious as we first thought, so we’ll know more tomorrow.
I think a little bit more about how he wakes up. So we’ll re-evaluate then.”
The Stars survived the rest of the game without him, but the damage showed up on the scoreboard. All five Washington goals came after Heiskanen exited, including a late push that made things uncomfortable down the stretch. Gulutzan said the Capitals’ surge came in the third period, when they scored twice and cut the lead to 6-5 with 1:02 left.
Sourdif also got credit for Washington’s fourth goal at 12:55 of the third. Anthony Beauvillier’s shot went in off Sourdif and Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger.
Heiskanen’s workload has been heavy all season, and the Washington game dragged his average ice time down. Before Tuesday, he was logging 25:58 per night. After the 9:41 in that game, he sits at 24:53 through 15 games.
He has 11 points this season, with 3 goals and 8 assists. Last season, he produced 63 points in 77 games, including 9 goals and 54 assists, while averaging 25:28 of ice time per game, which ranked fourth in the league.
Heiskanen also missed the final three games of last regular season in April because of a lower-body injury.
Dallas selected Heiskanen third overall in 2017 and signed him in July 2021 to an eight-year, $67.6 million contract that runs through 2028-29. Entering Tuesday, he had 357 points in 566 regular-season games.
The Stars are already dealing with another blue-line absence. Kyle Capobianco was hurt Oct. 27 in a collision behind the net with Timo Meier of the New Jersey Devils, and two days later Gulutzan said the injury would keep him out about four weeks with a lower-body issue.
Dallas recalled Trey Taylor from AHL affiliate Texas in a corresponding move, and he made his NHL debut Oct. 29 against the Montreal Canadiens.
The Stars have also been piecing things together over the last two weeks, with Esa Lindell, Sam Steel, Radek Faksa, Wyatt Johnston, Oskar Bäck, and Capobianco all missing games at different points. Lindell returned in Washington and picked up an assist, while Faksa was back after missing four games with a lower-body injury. Forward Matt Duchene is out for three months after surgery.
Even with the injuries, Dallas entered the game allowing 22.3 shots on goal per game, the fewest in the league. Washington was averaging 25.
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