Playing like a vet, Heiskanen shows why he's 'whole package' in NHL debut

Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen's initiation as an NHL rookie came early Thursday night.
Heiskanen and fellow Finn Roope Hintz, both making their NHL debuts, hit the ice by themselves at American Airlines Center and took the traditional rookie lap around the ice before the rest of their teammates joined them for warm-ups.
"Of course, that was funny," Heiskanen said. "It was nice to skate with Roope instead of doing it alone."

Once Heiskanen hit the ice in the game, he didn't look anything like a rookie in the Stars' 3-0 win over the Arizona Coyotes in Thursday night's season opener. The 19-year-old logged 19:45 of ice time, third-highest on the team. He played both sides of special teams, had one shot on goal, two shot attempts and was a plus-1.
"I thought he was great," said Stars coach Jim Montgomery. "The first five minutes of the game he was dancing and throughout the game, I thought he made really good decisions, and his skating got us out of trouble a lot."
Heiskanen said there were no pregame nerves, everything felt "normal." But he added that suiting up for his first NHL game was special.

"It was really nice, really nice experience," he said. "It was so good to play the first game in the NHL. I always dreamed about that. Now it's true. Great feeling."
There wasn't much to Heiskanen's first shift of the game. He was on the ice for just 12 seconds before Arizona's Kevin Connauton tripped up Radek Faksa and Heiskanen headed to the bench as the top power-play unit came out on the ice.
His second shift -- and his first full one in the NHL -- was impressive. After Faksa won a defensive zone draw and tapped the puck to Heiskanen, the young defenseman shot up the left wing and attempted to set up Tyler Pitlick on the right wing on the rush. Seconds later, Heiskanen moved into the slot, took a pass and recorded a shot on goal. After that, it was back on defense, breaking up an Arizona rush, securing the puck along the boards and dropping it off to defense partner Marc Methot.

"We shouldn't be surprised anymore," Stars defenseman Klingberg said of Heiskanen's play. "He's got a lot of experience - Olympics, World Championship, World Juniors, he's 19 and he's done that already. His first NHL game, for sure he was really good, but it's only going to be better for sure."
Klingberg said there will be some ups and downs for Heiskanen, especially as he adjusts to the grind of the 82-game NHL schedule instead of the European routine which includes fewer games and more practices. And Heiskanen will have to learn to shake off mistakes, move on and rely on what got him here. But Klingberg said Heiskanen has all the tools to be something special.
"The poise and the head for the game. He knows where to go. His gap is unbelievable. His skating and his vision. He's got the whole package," Klingberg said. "There's nothing you can really point at; he's got the whole package to be a really, really, really unbelievable defenseman in this league."

Monty talks lineup

Coming off a 3-0 win over Arizona in the season opener, Montgomery was asked if he would go with the same lineup for Saturday's game against Winnipeg at American Airlines Center.
"After a shutout victory, definitely (Ben Bishop) is going in net," Montgomery said with a smile. "That said, we will evaluate. We finished evaluating the game, and there are some players that may be switched out. More than likely I would say it is the same lineup."
Montgomery said he is not afraid to make lineup changes even after a win.
"I am not superstitious," Montgomery said. "Players that did not play well enough to stay in the lineup will come out. You've also got to factor in matchups. In the back of my head, I watched a lot of games last year, and I know that [Gemel Smith] played really well and had two fights and was really antagonistic against a good team like the Winnipeg Jets last year."

Medical matters

Valeri Nichushkin practiced with the team for the first time since going out with a lower-body injury. His status for Saturday is up in the air.
"Game-day decision (for Saturday)," Montgomery said. "I can't make that decision right now."
Captain Jamie Benn and defenseman Marc Methot did not practice Friday. It was maintenance for both. "Maintenance, that's all it was," Montgomery said.
Defenseman Stephen Johns did not practice Friday. He had a setback with his post-traumatic headaches.
"He didn't feel as well today," Montgomery said. "They are monitoring him, and unfortunately it's another setback in his development with those post-traumatic headaches."
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mark Stepneski has covered the Stars for DallasStars.com since 2012. Follow him on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.