Stars to be shorthanded in Western Conference Final rematch with Oilers

The Dallas Stars will be without some significant talent ahead of the Western Conference Final rematch Tuesday night. According to team reporter Brien Rea, the Stars won’t have forwards Roope Hintz or Matt Duchene against the Edmonton Oilers. Additionally, Jake Oettinger is also doubtful, given that he and his wife just had a child.

It’s more of the same for Duchene. The 17-year veteran will have missed Dallas’ last eight games due to an upper-body injury after Tuesday night’s contest. He’s only appeared in four games this year, scoring one goal and two assists with a 52.2% success rate in the faceoff dot.

Meanwhile, Hintz will miss his fifth straight game due to an undisclosed injury. He’s been a much bigger void to fill, given that he’s been a point-per-game player to start the campaign. Since Duchene left the lineup, the Stars have averaged two goals per game.

Other injury notes from the Central Division:

• In some positive news, the St. Louis Blues will return Robert Thomas to the lineup Tuesday. According to Lou Korac of the NHL, Thomas returned to practice Monday morning and was included in all line rushes. He’s missed the team’s last four games with an upper-body injury. Unfortunately, Thomas’s absence was notably evident, as the Blues lost all four contests.
• The positive news isn’t only isolated to St. Louis. According to Joe Smith of The Athletic, Minnesota Wild veteran Mats Zuccarello looks very close to returning. Zuccarello suffered a lower-body injury before the start of the regular season. Like Thomas, his absence has been noticeable. Despite leading the league in power-play goals, the Wild are only averaging 1.61 even-strength goals through their first 13 games.