The Dallas Stars will be without winger Patrick Eaves and center Tyler Seguin yet again in Game 4, in St. Louis on Thursday. Neither traveled to St. Louis with the team.
That Seguin is out comes as no surprise, but Stars coach Lindy Ruff indicated earlier in the week that Eaves could be ready to return as early as Game 4, after missing the team’s last eight games with a lower body injury—more specifically, he was hit in the skate with a Stephen Johns shot in Game 1 of the Wild series and hasn’t played since.
Based on Ruff’s comments, we’d imagine Eaves will be available for Game 5 but the Stars could already be in a 3-1 hole by then, depending on what happens Thursday night.
Seguin could take a little longer than that, though updates have been predictably scarce. He hasn’t seen the ice since Game 2 of the Wild series, in which he suffered a lower body injury that may or may not be related to the cut achilles that ended his regular season.
Skating with Eaves on Monday was the first time Seguin had been on the ice at all since suffering the setback.
"Tyler, that was his first day (Monday) of really getting on the ice and getting something done," Ruff said, per the Dallas Morning News, "so he's in a little different category."
