The Dallas Stars are down another defenseman for their three-game road trip against Western Conference opponents.
Ilya Lyubushkin did not join the team on the trip, Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said, and therefore, will not play in Dallas’ game in St. Louis Tuesday night.
The veteran blue liner went down with a lower-body injury in Dallas’ home game against St. Louis Friday after blocking a shot in the second period and never returned.
He has a goal and six assists in 39 games this season and is averaging 16:10 of ice time.
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Alexander Petrovic will replace him in the lineup and skate alongside Kyle Capobianco. The Stars are also still without defenseman Lian Bichsel, who has been out since November with a lower-body injury that required surgery.
Dallas’ defensive pairs are expected to look as follows:
Lindell-Heiskanen
Harley-Lundkvist
Capobianco-Petrovic
Gulutzan also provided an update on his lines, saying rookie forward Justin Hryckowian will get a shot on Dallas’ top line with Mikko Rantanen and Wyatt Johnston.
The undrafted 24-year-old was a late addition to the roster out of training camp due to injuries but has certainly earned his spot, logging eight goals and nine assists in 51 games.
He’s brought a jolt of energy and physicality that Dallas has needed at times this season.
Hryckowian will replace Sam Steel, who has skated on the top line for quite some time but hasn’t delivered offensively in the way Dallas would hope from a top-liner.
“If you’re going to go up into those spots, you need enough offensive ability to keep those plays alive, and [Hryckowian] is certainly more than capable of that,” Gulutzan said.
The Stars’ forward lines are projected to look like this:
Hryckowian-Johnston-Rantanen
Robertson-Hintz-Bourque
Benn-Duchene-Steel
Bäck-Faksa-Blackwell
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