Stars get 'semblance of normalcy' ahead of late Game 2

Game 2: Stars vs. Flames (CGY leads 1-0)

9:30 p.m. CT, Rogers Place

TV: FOX Sports Southwest, NBCSN

Radio:The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM

In the wackiness of the Edmonton bubble, the Stars have played all five of their first games (one exhibition, three round-robin, and one playoff game) in the afternoon. Tonight, they will get a local 8:30 start (9:30 CT), which changes the entire routine.

Dallas had a morning skate Thursday for the first time since March, and players will be able to go back to the room and take a nap before showing up to play the Calgary Flames in Game 2 at Rogers Place.

"It's certainly different, they've all been afternoon games," Stars interim coach Rick Bowness said. "First of all, you're back into the routine of having the morning skate. It's an adjustment, nothing major. It's nice to have a morning skate so we can have some meetings in the morning, which gives them more time to prepare themselves for tonight."

Players said they like the schedule when a morning skate is involved.

"With all of the strangeness about what's going on now, it's good to have a semblance of normalcy, and kind of just get into that routine we normally have," said defenseman Taylor Fedun, who is expected to draw in because Stephen Johns left Game 1 with what appeared to be an injury. "Just get a good sweat, feel the puck in the morning, and then just relax and get ready for the evening and mentally prepare."

Defenseman Jamie Oleksiak was asked what he likes to do in the morning skate.

"I think just getting a feel for the puck, making sure things are in line," he said. "Morning skates, you do a lot of the same things, a lot of it is just getting your feet under you, getting the tempo up, getting the heart rate up. We've got a long period before the game tonight, so it was nice just getting the blood flowing."

Bowness only confirmed that Johns will not play. He did not say how the lineup would look or who would start in goal. But he did say the team understands how important this game is. Dallas is down 1-0 in the best-of-seven series and could use a bit of positivity as they are 1-4-0 since heading to the bubble.

In addition, Game 3 is scheduled for a local 8:30 start on Friday, so changing the momentum of the series could be pretty important. That said, the coach knows his team has to deal with one game at a time.

"When you play four games in five-and-a-half days, like we're going through, when you lose Game 1, you have to do everything you can to win Game 2.," Bowness said. "And if we have to up minutes (tonight), we up minutes. We've got good depth here. If we have to make some changes for tomorrow to keep some speed in the lineup, then that's what we have to do.

"Right now, all of the focus is on tonight. We'll see how tonight goes and then we'll deal with tomorrow."

Fedun jumps in

Fedun is a 32-year-old defenseman with 127 games of NHL experience over six seasons. He played seven games in the playoffs for the Stars last season, so he definitely should be ready to play Thursday.

That said, he played part of the exhibition game against Nashville and last played in a real game Jan. 11, so he also has some rust.

"He knows his strengths and he doesn't try to step out of what those strengths are," Bowness said. "He doesn't try to do too much. He's very smart, he's got a lot of hockey sense, so he doesn't chase the game. He knows when to let the game come to him. That's what he's so good at."

Fedun said he learned a lot in the playoffs last year with the Stars.

"I learned that everything is magnified, every mistake is magnified," Fedun said. "Every second matters, you've got to be ready for every faceoff, you've got to be very ready for every battle you're engaged in. That's going to be very important tonight."

Bishop could get start

Ben Bishop has been listed as "unfit to play" for much of his time in the bubble, but could get the start tonight. Bishop has been dealing with an apparent injury and did not dress for two round-robin games. He served as backup in Game 1.

Bishop was 21-16-4 with a 2,50 GAA and .920 save percentage during the regular season. Bowness was an assistant coach with Tampa Bay when Bishop helped the Lightning to the Stanley Cup Final.

"You don't get to be an elite level…it's not just your skills, you have to have a burning desire," Bowness said. "You have to be able to embrace the moment and not be intimidated by the moment. He's very good at handling the pressure that comes with the playoffs."

By the numbers

7

That's the number of games Tyler Seguin has gone without a goal. The Stars' leading scorer last tallied against St. Louis on Feb. 29. Seguin, who has been battling an ailment in the playoffs, has no points and is minus-7 in his past seven games. He has 16 shots on goal in that span.

24:17

That was the time on ice for Stars defenseman, Jamie Oleksiak, who had six hits in the game. Oleksiak set a new playoff personal best with the time on ice. Oleksiak averaged 15:49 during the regular season.

2.16

That's the playoff goals against average for Ben Bishop, who is 28-20 in 50 postseason appearances. He has a .927 save percentage in that span.

He said it

"I've talked about it a couple times. I just felt like I didn't have much of a role on the team and what changed was the coaching change. Probably a guy that knows me more than anyone in the league ends up being the head coach and puts me in a role, and put me in a role where I could succeed as well. Not just him, but I give a lot of credit to my teammates as well. They stuck with me, made me buy into the group. As much as I give credit to the coaches, I give credit to my teammates here, too."

-- Flames forward Milan Lucic

Stars projected lineup

Jamie Benn - Tyler Seguin - Alexander Radulov

Mattias Janmark - Joe Pavelski - Denis Gurianov

Andrew Cogliano - Radek Faksa - Blake Comeau

Roope Hintz - Jason Dickinson - Corey Perry

Esa Lindell - John Klingberg

Jamie Oleksiak - Miro Heiskanen

Andrej Sekera - Taylor Fedun

Ben Bishop

Anton Khudobin

Unfit to Play:Stephen Johns

Scratched:Justin Dowling, Jason Robertson, Ty Dellandrea, Thomas Harley, Joel Kiviranta, Nick Caamano, Joel Hanley, Gavin Bayreuther, Landon Bow, Jake Oettinger

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.