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Could Dallas Stars’ 5-defensemen rotation cost them the series against Golden Knights?
The Dallas Stars surprised the hockey world, winning three straight games against the Vegas Golden Knights to turn a 2-0 series deficit into a 3-2 lead going into Game 6.
Dallas won Games 3 and 4 in Las Vegas and secured a 3-2 win at home on Wednesday in Game 5. The Stars are a deep team. Arguably the deepest in the NHL. But there's one area where they could be better: the blue line.
They made a big move there, adding Chris Tanev at the trade deadline, but injuries have put them in a tough spot once again.
With the injury to Jani Hakanpaa, Dallas has been using the same six defensemen in the first five games of this series: Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley, Esa Lindell, Ryan Suter, Tanev, and Nils Lundkvist. But since Game 3, Dallas has really only been using five.
The 23-year-old Nils Lundkvist made his playoff debut this season but has played a total of 6:27 in the last three games, which is just 13 shifts. Despite trading a first-round pick to get the former New York Rangers defenseman, Dallas seems comfortable keeping him on the bench for most of the game.
"We played five D the last three games, the first two games we didn't," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said.
"I lost in the conference final to Montreal, and they essentially ran four D the entire playoff just about. I don't think there is a rule that you have to play six D even minutes or anything like that. Just depends on the situation."
Dallas Stars' 5-defensemen rotation seems likely to come back to hurt them eventually
To me, this just seems silly.
If DeBoer and the Dallas Stars have so little faith in Lundkvist, why not replace him? They already have 30-year-old Derrick Pouliot on the active roster and have plenty of options in the American Hockey League, including top prospect Lian Bischel.
Otherwise, give Lundkvist a chance. In any playoff series, you have to have depth and toughness. Against the Vegas Golden Knights, both of those become even more vital.
Vegas loves to run around and get in on the forecheck to inflict punishment on the other team. Opposing defensemen feel the brunt of that physicality.
So while the Dallas Stars are up in this series, it just seems like a matter of time before their five-defensemen rotation comes back to bite them. We will find out soon. Game 6 is Friday from Las Vegas.
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