Stars defenseman Nils Lundkvist has been ruled out for Game 5 of the first-round series against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday as he recovers from a facial injury.
“You won’t see Nils in the game tomorrow,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said Monday. “We should see him before the series is over.”
Lundkvist left Dallas’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Wild Saturday early. With just under seven minutes left in the second period, Lundkvist tripped Wild forward Michael McCarron. The forward’s left skate sliced Lundkvist across his left cheek, sending him down the tunnel as blood dripped from his face. Lundkvist was called for a tripping penalty on the play and never returned.
Lundkvist did not need to go to the hospital for the injury.
He posted 11 points (three goals and eight assists) in 52 regular-season games, was plus-12 and averaged a career-high 16:29 of ice time. Lundkvist has two assists in four playoff games so far.
The Stars will look to one of their depth defensemen to replace him. As of Monday afternoon, they had not yet decided if Ilya Lyubushkin, Kyle Capobianco or Alexander Petrovic would play Tuesday.
“All of our other D are ready,” Gulutzan said. “They’ve all played well. Some of it is you look at analytics. Some of it is you go with your gut and what your team needs.”
Defenseman Miro Heiskanen also missed practice Monday for a maintenance day. He is expected to play Tuesday.
Forward Roope Hintz (lower body) is continuing to skate on his own, but there is no concrete timeline for his return.