Five for Fighting

Lacavalier doubtful for Tampa Bay, Gagnon probably on wing

Tampa Bay center Vincent Lecavalier is doubtful for Monday night's Stars game against the Lightning with a finger injury. He was hit by a puck on the hand Saturday.

That should shake up the Lightning lines, so we'll see what happens there.

The guess is the Martin St. Louis-Steven Stamkos-Steve Downie line stays the same. Lecavalier was centering Simon Gagne and Teddy Purcell, so we'll see what happens.

Mike Smith is supposed to get the start in net for the Lightning.

Jamie Benn (concussion-like symptoms) will miss his third straight game.

``He's skating great and he looks great, but we just want to be very careful,'' said Stars coach Marc Crawford.

Benn had headaches after getting hit by Islanders defenseman James Wisniewski a week ago on Long Island. He also had a concussion in 2009 when he was playing junior hockey.

That means Aaron Gagnon will be in tonight, but he likely will not play center. Steve Ott has been doing a solid job defensively and has been fantastic on faceoffs (29-of-44 for 65.9 percent). So while Crawford could still do some juggling, his lines will likely be this:

James Neal-Brad Richards-Loui Eriksson
Brenden Morrow-Mike Ribeiro-Adam Burish
Brian Sutherby-Steve Ott-Toby Petersen
Aaron Gagnon-Tom Wandell-Brandon Segal

Nicklas Grossman-Stephane Robidas
Mark Fistric-Trevor Daley
Karlis Skrastins-Matt Niskanen

Kari Lehtonen will be in goal again.

Brunnstrom down, Gagnon up

Fabian Brunnstrom has been assigned to the Texas Stars, but Dallas also has recalled Aaron Gagnon.

We'll see if this is about Jamie Benn (concussion-like symptoms) not being ready and the team needing an extra forward for the road trip to Florida or whether it's about somebody else being hurt.

I had been told they did not want to carry extra forwards if they weren't going to use them.

Stars beat St. Louis in shootout, 3-2

Wow, how do you describe this team.

They are far from perfect, and yet they are 4-0-0.

After a 3-2 shootout win over St. Louis at American Airlines Center, the Stars are proving they are resilient. They found themselves down 2-0 3:48 into the game and then didn't give up another goal.

Kari Lehtonen came up with 41 saves, and yet he couldn't do it alone. He left some rebounds hanging out and had a few pucks trickle through holes, and his defensemen were there to clean things up when they needed to be.

It was a hectic, sloppy, chaotic, beautiful mess.

Brad Richards now has nine points (2 goals, 7 assists) his best start ever to a season.

Richards and linemates James Neal and Loui Eriksson (one goal and one assist each) came up huge and made the most of their scoring opportunities.

Meanwhile, the Stars met the physical challenge handed out by the Blues and finished with 49 hits (to 28 for the Blues). Nicklas Grossman had seven hits (he also had two really foolish penalties in the third period), while Steve Ott, James Neal and Brenden Morrow had six hits apiece.

The Stars also won the battle of the faceoff circle, 34-22 (61 percent) and that was huge at times. Steve Ott won 10-of-15 (67 percent).

Loui Eriksson had his shootouot attempt trickle under the pads of Ty Conklin and it was called a goal under review. That became huge, as it allowed Mike Ribeiro the chance to finish things off before the Blues even got their third shot. Dallas is now 4-for-6 in shootouts 66.6 percent) after going 14-for-75 (18.7 percent) last season. That ranked them 29th in the league in shootout shooter success.

Here was the shootout replay from Saturday:

DS _ Richards, snap shot, good, 1-0
STL _ Oshie _ wrister, stopped, 1-0
DS _ Eriksson _ Backhand, good (video review shows puck trickled over), 2-0.
STL _ Boyes _ roofs wrister good, 2-1
DS _ Ribeiro _ beautiful backhand, forehand move, good, 3-1.

Stars win, 3-2 in shootout

Kari Lehtonen is now 23-8 in his lifetime in shootouts.

Brunnstrom clears waivers; Benn skates

Fabian Brunnstrom has cleared waivers and will head to the Texas Stars, probably on Sunday.

As we said earlier, this could be for the rest of the season.

If a team really wants Brunnstrom, the Stars could bring him back through re-entry waivers and pay half of his $675,000 salary, but why not just leave him down there and retain his rights as a restricted free agent in the summer? We'll see what happens.

This clearly sends a message to Brunnstrom when no other team wanted to pick him up at what seems like a very reasonable price. There are obvious roster and salary cap issues that every team has to battle, but it seems pretty telling when not one team wanted to take a chance on him. Waiver pick-ups happen all of the time (see B.J. Crombeen and Brandon Segal), and Brunnstrom seemed to be a project that some team would want.

So, he will get the chance to polish his skills in the AHL now.

``I believe for Fabian, going down to play for Texas will be great,'' Stars coach Marc Crawford said. ``They could use a dose of skill in that lineup, and he'll play in all situations and learn to play in those tough situations. It's about the journey and getting street smart in the ways of hockey.''

Stars say Fistric hit was clean

Detroit Red Wings forward Johan Franzen said he felt Mark Fistric's hit on him Thursday was worthy of a suspension.

However, the Stars responded on Friday by saying they felt the hit was clean.

Stars coach Marc Crawford: ``I thought it was a good hit. It was a north-south play. Their player goes down very low, when he turns he turns he comes down and you get hit. Mark had him lined up the whole way, he tried to cut back on him and he hit him.''

Fistric: ``I don't ever want to hurt anybody and I'm sorry that he's hurt, but I really was just finishing my check. I really just thought I hit him with my shoulder. It happened so quick I really didn't even know what happened. I didn't even know he was hurt until a lot later in the shift. I certainly didn't try to hurt him or target his head, I just think we came together in an awkward way.''

The Stars say they do not believe Fistric will receive any discipline.

Kari Lehtonen was given the day off for maintenance. Jamie Benn (concussion-like symptoms) worked out and should skate in the morning Saturday at American Airlines Center. However, he will not play Saturday night. He might be ready by Monday.

"Jamie's positive again today," Crawford said. "He's doing his tests today and I think he's going to skate here later today and skate with the team tomorrow. We are targeting Monday."

FSSW recorded its highest rating for a Stars game more than six years for Thursday's return of Mike Modano to Dallas.

Here is the press release:

Mike Modano's return to Dallas Thursday night produced the highest-rated Dallas Stars telecast on FOX Sports Southwest in over six years, according to Nielsen Media Research. The game against Modano's new Detroit Red Wings team averaged a 1.7 Nielsen household rating in Dallas-Fort Worth, the best mark for a regular-season Stars telecast on FOX Sports Southwest since a 2.4 on April 2, 2004 against the Minnesota Wild.

An average of 44,630 homes in Dallas-Fort Worth tuned in to watch the former Stars standout play his first game in Dallas wearing a visitor's sweater. The game was the night's No. 1-rated cable TV program in Dallas-Fort Worth, beating ESPN's West Virginia-South Florida college football telecast that averaged a 1.6 rating.

Stars place Fabian Brunnstrom on waivers

They are hoping he makes it through and he is able to go to the minors. If he is assigned to the minors, he would probably spend the entire season there, as he would probably get picked up on re-entry waivers at half price if the Stars tried to bring him back up.

The Stars say a year in the minors could do Brunnstrom some good.

Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk said he looked to trade Brunnstrom, but could not find a taker. Brunnstrom is on a one-year contract for $600,000, so he seems like he could have value to a team. We'll know by 11 a.m. if a team has put a claim in on him.

The Stars will probably go with 13 forwards even though Jamie Benn is still injured (concussion-like symptoms). They can always call up an extra guy if they need to. However, Benn looks like he might be able to play Monday at Tampa Bay, and there's no sense in calling up Tomas Vincour or Aaron Gagnon if they're just going to be a healthy scratch.

Stars hire Gary Roberts as player development consultant

Roberts is good friends with Joe Nieuwendyk and helped train James Neal in the summer.

He also has helped train Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos among other NHL players

This agreement will not prevent Roberts from training other NHL players.

Here is the press release:

DALLAS STARS ADD GARY ROBERTS AS PLAYER DEVELOPMENT CONSULTANT

FRISCO, Tex. -- Dallas Stars General Manager Joe Nieuwendyk announced today that the club has hired former NHL player Gary Roberts as a player development consultant.

Roberts, 44, has trained several young players during the past few off-seasons near his home in Ontario, including the Stars' James Neal, Florida's Stephen Weiss and Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos, among others.

"We're very pleased to officially add Gary Roberts as a player development consultant for our hockey club," said Nieuwendyk. "Obviously I know Gary well and what he's all about. He's a first-class person and I think our young players will benefit from his years of experience."

Roberts will be working with the Stars' young players throughout the club's hockey system, at both the NHL and developmental levels, in tandem with the club's strength and conditioning team, coaches and trainers.

"Gary had an illustrious career and went through a lot in his years in the NHL," said Nieuwendyk. "He overcame two neck surgeries and maintained his level of effort no matter what the circumstance. We feel that he will help our young players understand what it takes to be a true professional."

Roberts played 22 seasons in the NHL, scoring 438 goals and 471 assists for 909 points in 1,224 career games. Drafted by Calgary with the 12th overall pick in 1984, he played for the Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning. Roberts retired as a player following the 2008-09 season.

Stars push game time back 30 minutes on Saturday

Here is the press release:

FRISCO, Tex. - The Dallas Stars announced today that the team's NHL game on Saturday, Oct. 16 vs. the St. Louis Blues will now start at 7:30 pm (in place of the original 7:00 pm start time). The Stars made the change to accommodate sports fans interested in attending and/or watching the Texas Rangers' ALCS Game Two (first pitch at 3:07 pm) in Arlington, and attending/watching the Dallas Stars game at American Airlines Center that evening.

"This is an exciting time to be a sports fan in North Texas, and many follow all of the local teams passionately and go to a lot of our games," said Stars Executive Vice President Geoff Moore. "We felt that moving the Stars game to a 7:30 pm start would help some fans who were interested in attending or watching both games that day."

Fans interested in attending this Saturday's Stars-Blues game can take advantage of the Stars' Ott-Toberfest offer - 2 platinum seats, 2 Steve Ott T-Shirts and 2 drinks for only $99. Plus fans get a coupon good for 20 free wings at Hooters. Fans can order tickets at DallasStars.com or by calling 214-GO STARS.

The Stars-Blues game on Saturday will be televised on TXA 21 and broadcast on Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket.

Modano exited, nervous about tonight's game

Mike Modano had a big smile on his face this morning during the skate as he saw a lot of familiar faces and went to a very unfamiliar place _ the visitor's locker room at AAC.

``Yeah, first time I've been in there...strange,'' Modano said.

As for the game tonight: "Obviously, the nerves are a little high, otherwise felt real good, comfortable. Trying to approach it like any other game but obviously that's difficult to do. It'll probably be harder as the day moves along and it gets closer to game time. Hopefully, once it gets started, you relax and play the game.''

While Modano was entertaining a massive media grouping outside the Detroit locker room, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock walked by and jabbed Modano by saying he needed to wrap up the media session before the 7:30 p.m. game time.

Stars coach Marc Crawford said he expected it to be an emotional night _ and that's a good thing.

``They're human and they have to deal with human emotions,'' Crawford said of his team. ``But mostly it's a big night for Mike and he'll have to deal with his emotions.''

Stars players said they expect Modano to get a rousing cheer:

"I can't imagine there'll be a whole lot of (boos)," Stars captain Brenden Morrow said. "And I think if he scores tonight, that'll probably rival the amount of noise that goes off when we score. I think there are a lot of good memories from fans here, Dallas Stars fans with Mike. He didn't go on his own terms, so it's not like he shunned the team and then took off. So I think the reception will be pretty well-received for him."

Jamie Benn (concussion-like symptoms) had a good day of workouts, but Crawford said the earliest he will skate is Saturday, which means he will probably not play Saturday night against St. Louis.

It looks like Fabian Brunnstrom will get the scratch tonight. He stayed out extra after the skate with Jeff Woywitka. Krys Barch will probably play on a grinding line and the lines will look like this:

Jame Neal-Brad Richards-Loui Eriksson
Brenden Morrow-Mike Ribeiro-Adam Burish
Brian Sutherby-Steve Ott-Toby Peterson
Krys Barch-Tom Wandell-Brandon Segal

Nicklas Grossman-Stephane Robidas
Mark Fistric-Trevor Daley
Karlsi Skrastins-Matt Niskanen

Kari Lehtonen

Detroit will likely go with:

Pavel Datsyuk-Henrik Zetterberg-Tomas Holmstrom
Johan Franzen-Valtteri Filppula-Todd Bertuzzi
Jiri Hudler-Mike Modano-Daniel Cleary
Drew Miller-Darren Helm-Patrick Eaves

Nicklas Lidstrom-Brad Stuart
Niklas Kronwall-Doug Janik
Jakub Kindl-Ruslan Salei

Chris Osgood

Benn out for Thursday, but doing more

Stars forward Jamie Benn exercised Wednesday for the first time after suffering ``concussion-like symptoms'' following a hit by Islander defenseman James Wisniewski Saturday. Benn is on the protocol for concussion treatment, and so he has to move slowly in his return to play.

He will not play Thursday against Detroit, but he could be back on the ice soon, according to Stars coach Marc Crawford.

"He did light exercise today, he was symptom free- so that's positive,'' Crawford said. ``The plan is to ramp him up tomorrow (Thursday). Everything depends on everything progressing without any hitches. Today was a good first step for him, he was pretty positive about it- we'll be positive about it tomorrow.''

Crawford on the steps to get back to playing:

"He won't play tomorrow, he's got a couple of steps to overcome,'' Crawford said. ``He's got to go harder and then have no symptoms, then he's got to do the baseline test. From there, he's got to do contact with no symptoms. So there are still a few more steps, but the first ones have been positive and we'll keep building from there.''

By the way, Benn played all 82 games last season as a rookie, so this be the first NHL game he has missed.