First Shift \ud83c\udfd2<\/p>\n
The \u201cone degree more\u201d that Glen Gulutzan has been preaching this year is making a tangible difference for the Stars.<\/p>\n
The new\/old head coach has talked about giving \u201cone degree more\u201d in a lot of areas, especially physicality. That has taken some time to get into the \u201cfabric of the jersey,\u201d as Gulutzan likes to say, but it clearly is becoming a noticeable trait in game after game.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefinitely,\u201d said defensemen Lian Bichsel<\/a>. \u201cYou see all of the little things that we need to do and we\u2019re doing them better. It makes us harder to play against.\u201d<\/p>\n The Stars showed that Friday in an intense game against the Colorado Avalanche. While Dallas lost in a shootout at the end, 5-4, it was the better team for much of the game. Included in that effort were some competitive plays from smaller forwards like Mavrik Bourque<\/a>, Justin Hryckowian<\/a> and Colin Blackwell<\/a>, and that was noticeable.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s definitely in our jerseys,\u201d Gulutzan said. \u201cThere\u2019s no backing off now. It\u2019s got to be a part of our everyday play, so when the playoffs start it\u2019s not foreign to us. It\u2019s just the right way to play.\u201d<\/p>\n And while it includes delivering hits, the push is for a higher level of \u201ccompete\u201d in all facets. That could be in faceoffs or puck battles or backchecking. One of the key plays Friday was when Hryckowian pushed in on the forecheck, beat two Colorado players for possession of the puck behind the net, and fed Jamie Benn<\/a> for a goal in front.<\/p>\n It was a huge moment.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a great forecheck, it was physicality with a great stick and some great puck awareness to find Benny in the slot,\u201d Gulutzan said. \u201cThe great thing about him is he can win a lot of puck battles and that\u2019s what makes him successful. He\u2019s proving he can do that at a high level against good players.\u201d<\/p>\n Hryckowian is a 25-year-old rookie who was rookie of the year in the AHL last season, so he\u2019s taking a step forward in his career. Bourque was MVP of the AHL two seasons ago, and he said he definitely is growing in his ability to be physical.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it was always part of my game in juniors, and it took time to bring it to the AHL and NHL level,\u201d Bourque said. \u201cI think I can be even a little bit more involved and compete more.\u201d<\/p>\n Bourque said he can see the impact, especially in the team\u2019s recent 10-0-1 run.<\/p>\n \u201cIt gives us more time and space and it slows down the opponent,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n That\u2019s key as Dallas continues to deal with the absence of\u00a0Rantanen (lower body) and Radek Faksa<\/a> (upper body) and now has to deal with the loss of Roope Hintz<\/a> on Friday to a lower body injury. Gulutzan said Hintz could be out for a while.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s going to miss some time,\u201d Gulutzan said. \u201cWe don\u2019t know exactly how much, but it\u2019s not a couple of days. He\u2019s got to see another doctor, so we\u2019ll see how long it is going to be, so not good news.\u201d<\/p>\n Gulutzan said he expects Hintz should be back before the playoffs. The timeline is the same for Rantanen, and the thought is that Faksa could be back around the time that the postseason starts.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a challenge, but the good news is that trade deadline acquisitions Tyler Myers<\/a> and Michael Bunting<\/a> are ready to come in on Sunday against Chicago. Myers is a veteran defenseman who is listed at 6-8, 229 pounds. He will give the team help on the back end with his reach and physicality. Bunting is an energizer bunny who can mix with players like Bourque, Hryckowian and Blackwell to keep the pressure on within the forward group.<\/p>\n Gulutzan said the coaching staff will do its best to work the players in slowly.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just going to bring them in like we would an injured player,\u201d Gulutzan said. \u201cWe\u2019ll bring them in in small doses and get them acclimated to the way we play.\u201d<\/p>\n Right now, that \u201cway\u201d is with just a little more physicality and intensity.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was a big thing this year – we want to bring physicality to our DNA,\u201d Bichsel said. \u201cWe can\u2019t just flip a switch in the playoffs, we have been doing it for the last 10 games and that has helped. Everyone is sticking up for everybody. It\u2019s fun to play for this team.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"First Shift \ud83c\udfd2 The \u201cone degree more\u201d that Glen Gulutzan has been preaching this year is making a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103],"class_list":{"0":"post-195495","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-dallas","9":"tag-dallas-headlines","10":"tag-dallas-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}