Lindell showing elite hockey sense for Stars in little plays, big games

RALEIGH, N.C. --It was a perfect display of what Esa Lindell can do.
In a 1-0 game against the Florida Panthers Tuesday, the Stars were battling through a mucky second period and not really generating much of anything. But Lindell saw an opening, snuck to the front of the net, and tapped in a nice quick pass from Tyler Seguin to give Dallas a two-goal lead in what eventually became a 3-0 win.
As teammates dissected the play in the next two days, they said it was essential Esa.

"It was a hockey sense goal, it's a great example of what he can do," said center Jason Spezza. "It was a great read. He saw that his winger had lost him, he saw the opportunity, and he was in the right place at the right time."
While defenseman Taylor Fedun said the play was both surprising and expected.
"You're like, `What was he doing there?'" Fedun said. "But he read the play right, he went to the right place, and he scored a big, big goal. That was huge at that point in the game."

Lindell is becoming a player who quietly makes huge plays. He has eight goals among 24 points, giving him a career best in goals and putting him just three points behind the 27 points he had in 80 games last season. What's more, his 24:21 in time on ice is just slightly behind John Klingberg for best on the team, and he ranks third in hits (105) and second in blocked shots (97) on the Stars.
"He's got great hockey sense. He's an intelligent hockey player," Stars coach Jim Montgomery said. "The forwards get pucks on their tape, he doesn't try to overcomplicate the game. His ability to shut people down on the rush is a big part of our team game."
In fact, Montgomery picked out a different play in the Florida game as an example of Lindell's importance to the team -- a big hit on Panthers forward Mike Hoffman.
"The hit he had on Hoffman, Esa had such a good angle and Hoffman had nowhere to go," Montgomery said. "His angles are so good that he does it with the stick and then if the guy cuts back on him, that's when you see some really good hits."
Fedun said he has studied Lindell in hopes of replicating some of what he does.
"He has a knack, an uncanny ability to be in the right place and be moving. He's not just standing in some place, he's got his angles, he's moving with the flow of the play, and he's still in the right place all of the time," Fedun said. "It's impressive. I try to watch closely to see if I can do what he does, because if you can get good at that, you can be a very effective defender."

Lindell, 24, played three seasons in the Finnish Elite League before coming to North America and tallied 35 points (14 goals, 21 assists) in 57 games with Assat Pori in his last season. He had 42 points (14 goals, 28 assists) in 73 games with Texas in the AHL in 2015-16. He is an all-around defenseman who is starting to show he can be a contributor on both offense and defense.
"He's really strong on the puck, he's a really good passer, he's got good gap control. Those are tangible things that you try to teach defensemen, and so that's what you can point out," Spezza said. "But he's also a very competitive guy and he has hockey sense is off the charts."
That's huge in not only doing your job, but pushing your team in the right direction.
"To me, hockey sense is the difference between a good player and a great player," Spezza said. "You can have skill and size or speed, but if you don't have hockey sense, you can't be a great player.
"Hockey sense gives you that ability to hang onto the puck for a second longer to let a play open up, to skate it out when your team is in trouble, it gives you the ability to anticipate a play on defense, it gives you the ability to set the flow of that game, and that's huge for any team."
Just like on Lindell's goal against Florida.

"If you go back and look at that play, you'll see that if he didn't get the puck, he would have circled out and had himself covered defensively," Spezza said. "That's important, especially with how we're playing now."
That Stars current game plan is strong defense, minimal mistakes, and knowing when to take risks offensively. It's a game Lindell seems very adept at playing.
"For me, it's been working. I think it's been really good. When we don't give many chances to opponents and keep them outside, that's good," he said. "That's the way you can win the games. You just have to keep working hard and play the whole 60 minutes."
And do it with calm and patience and hockey sense.
"He's very calculated, very smart," Montgomery said. "There's no risk to his game, there's a lot of reward."
And that goes for more than just the one play against Florida.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika.