Dallas Stars center Joe Pavelski will not travel with the team for Games 3 and 4 in Minnesota, coach Pete DeBoer confirmed on Thursday.
Pavelski has been out since the second period of Game 1 when Wild defenseman Matt Dumba finished a huge (and late) check in the corner that sent the 38-year-old crashing to the ice and wobbling down the tunnel.
Dumba received a minor penalty on the ice and has not suffered further discipline. For the Stars, Pavelski’s absence of at least three games is a massive loss.
The NHL’s quintessential net-front presence has found a career second wind after an underwhelming first season in Texas. Pavelski has been consistently elite since the beginning of the 2020-21 season, with 80 goals and 209 points in 220 regular season games. He did not miss a game to injury over that span.
Dumba only arrived slightly late to his check on Pavelski, but his reputation as a big hitter and the visual of Pavelski groggily leaving the ice led some to call for a Game 2 melee.
The Stars probably do not have the horses for that operation against a bigger, meaner Wild outfit. They took another form of retribution by lighting their opposition up on the scoreboard.
After an edgy double-overtime loss in Game 1, DeBoer’s men, perhaps galvanized by losing one of their best players, blitzed Minnesota for seven goals in Game 2.
Marc-Andre Fleury, who sat for Filip Gustavsson in Game 1, wore all 7 goals in the lopsided contest. Roope Hintz (who notched his first career hat trick) and Miro Heiskanen each collected four points.
While the Stars travel to Xcel Energy Center riding high off of their 7-3 win, they still will badly want Pavelski back by the series’ end after losing home their ice advantage.
Pavelski scored his 1000th point this season and was named the NHL’s best net-front player by his peers.
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