One of the Stars' top penalty killers, Martin Hanzal, will be out of the lineup with a recurring lower-body injury. The team will be taking a wait-and-see attitude as to whether he'll be ready for the team's next game in Winnipeg on Thursday.
"He'll probably skate tomorrow or the next day with us, and we'll see if he's ready for Winnipeg," head coach Ken Hitchcock said Monday after the team's morning skate. "If he doesn't practice full one of the next two days, then we'll hold him out and play him when we get home."
Although Hanzal, who missed time in training camp with an ankle injury, has just one goal -- an empty-netter -- and is minus-9 on the season, he has been a key figure defensively.
"There's a reason we're being so good on penalty killing," Hitchcock said. "He's been a major factor in that, and it's also he lines up against the other team's top players a lot of nights. He's negated a lot of good players so far this year. This has been unfortunate for him. Because every time he seems to be really catching his stride, he ends up getting hurt. So he's had three setbacks this year -- not including training camp -- so it's been tough for him."