First Shift: Thomas Harley looking to seize opportunity on Stars blue line

It seemed perfect that Ryan Suter played his 1,400th career regular season game against the Nashville Predators on Saturday.

After all, he got his start there and played 542 games.

To follow that up, it seems perfect that Suter will play his next two games against the Minnesota Wild.

After all, he was a big part of that team for nine seasons and logged 656 games there.

This is all coming together as Suter is gaining a bit more of the spotlight while Miro Heiskanen is out of the lineup and the Stars are looking for defensemen to pick up some minutes. After all, the 38-year old has the second most minutes played since the league started keeping time on ice in 1997.

“Ryan lives one day at a time with this sport,” Stars forward Tyler Seguin said. “He’s a heck of a guy to be around, always in good spirits. I’m proud of him, happy for him . . . that’s a lot of games.”

Suter’s influence has rubbed off on several teammates, most notably fellow defenseman Thomas Harley. The 22-year-old logged a team high 24:23 Saturday in Heiskanen’s first game out. Suter was second at 20:19. Harley said he spent Thanksgiving with the Suter family and has been soaking up all the experience he can.

“He’s unbelievable,” Harley said. “He’s been huge for me. I’ve learned a whole lot from him, both on the ice and off the ice. I can’t say enough good things.”

Harley is going to be the focus of the defense for a while. Heiskanen has been averaging 25:07 in time on ice, seventh most in the NHL. He leads the Stars in power play time on ice at 3:10. Jason Robertson is second at 2:40, so that’s a big void to fill.

“They’re big shoes for anyone to fill, and it’s Tom right now,” Robertson said. “It’s great that you have someone like that who can fill in and produce. I’m sure he’s going to keep growing and growing.”

Harley had two assists on Saturday, including a nice pass that was tipped in by Jamie Benn on the power play. The coaches practiced a five-forward unit on the man advantage because they figured that could be a better answer than using one of the defensemen. But Harley seems to be making a case to fill that spot.

“I thought he did a good job,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “He’s going to have to eat some minutes with Miro out.”

Harley said he is ready. He said he didn’t feel different playing that much. He's averaging 19:03 in time on ice, and that’s up from 16:48 last season.

“My minutes have kind of been trending up in the past couple of months,” he said. “Twenty three or twenty four tonight is new, but I’ve always felt the more I’m on the ice, the better I play. I just have to do something more with it.”

His teammates seem confident that Harley can handle the pressure.

“This league and this profession is all about opportunities,” Seguin said. “Thomas was good tonight and he’s going to get that opportunity now. We’d love to see him grab it.”

And if looking over at Suter provides motivation, well all the better.

“He’s a farm boy, he can go all day,” Harley said. “Hopefully, I have that in me, because I’d like to keep playing that long.”

Key Number

72.7 percent
Minnesota is 28th in penalty kill success at 72.7 percent.

13
In his past seven games against the Wild, Stars forward Matt Duchene has 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists).

551
Minnesota goalie Marc-André Fleury is tied with Patrick Roy for second place all-time in goaltender wins. His next win will put him in sole possession of second place. Martin Brodeur is first at 691.

He Said It

“We’ve got to keep battling. Wedgy is battling for us. He’s probably running out of a little bit of gas. We’ve asked a lot of him. And then on the other end, we’ve got to find a way. These goaltenders we’re playing are coming up with a lot of big saves.”

- Stars coach Pete DeBoer on how goalie Scott Wedgewood has helped carry the Stars during an injury absence for goalie Jake Oettinger

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.