MINNEAPOLIS -- Roope Hintz is skating on his own in Dallas, but the Dallas Stars center is "still a ways away" from returning to the lineup, coach Glen Gulutzan said Thursday.
Gulutzan said Hintz, who has been out since sustaining a lower-body on March 6, will remain in Dallas so he will not be available for Game 4 against the Minnesota Wild in the Western Conference First Round on Saturday (5:30 p.m. ET; HBO MAX, FDSNWI, FDSNNO, Victory+, truTV, TBS, SNP, SNW, SNO, TVAS).
The coach also said Hintz is unlikely to be ready in time for Game 5 at American Airlines Center on Tuesday.
The Stars lead the best-of-7 series 2-1 after winning 4-3 in double overtime at Grand Casino Arena on Wednesday.
"He's skating on his own, so your next step before we see where he's at is probably to skate with us," Gulutzan said from the team hotel. "We'll see when he's ready to do that. I would highly doubt he'll be ready for Game 5."
Hintz got back on the ice Wednesday, Gulutzan said.
He had resumed skating at some point between initially sustaining the injury in a game against the Colorado Avalanche and the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but Gulutzan said Hintz had a setback that prevented him from restarting the on-ice portion of his rehab until Wednesday.
"He's skating now so we're hoping that process goes quickly," Gulutzan said.
Hintz had 44 points (15 goals, 29 assists) in 53 games in the regular season. He played for Team Finland and won a bronze medal at the Winter Olympics, where he had four points (one goal, three assists) in six games.
Hintz has 421 points (190 goals, 231 assists) in 521 regular-season games, all with Dallas, and 69 points (27 goals, 42 assists) in 95 playoff games.
