Just before the puck dropped in Monday’s game against the Boston Bruins, the Dallas Stars revealed that Matt
Duchene, who is battling with a lower-body ailment, would not be playing. Despite not being the top player on the
team, Duchene makes a strong argument to be the most crucial because of his work centering Tyler Seguin and
Mason Marchment, who together have outscored opponents 38-17 at 5-on-5. Duchene plays on Dallas’s second line.
The Stars, who already lack veteran forward Evgenii Dadonov and half of their defence line (Heiskanen, Hakanpaa,
and Lundkvist) because of injury, could not have asked for a worse moment to lose the centre.
In their matchup with Boston, Dallas is starting versatile forward Sam Steel with Seguin and Marchment in place of
their joint-leading scorer Duchene (22G, 55P). First-year star with seven goals and eighteen points in 2023–24 is a
mainstay on the penalty kill.
Remarkably little has changed in Dallas’s quest for the Central Division title despite their injury woes. The team is on
a four-game winning streak that included a 9-2 thrashing of the rival Nashville Predators. The squad lost the Central
race to the Colorado Avalanche in the final minutes of 2022–2023.
Heiskanen and Duchene must at the very least make a swift recovery if the Stars are to maintain their lead in the
standings despite threats from Colorado and the Winnipeg Jets, who are 4 points behind the leaders with three
games remaining.
Although Duchene’s injury has not yet been discussed by coach Pete DeBoer, Stars supporters will be closely
watching the erratic 33-year-old’s postgame media conference for updates.
Prior to that, the Stars have a travel game that they lead by a goal through portions of two quarters. They will try to
defeat the icy-cold Bruins, who have lost their last four games.
Get more related update on…sportupdates.co.uk
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