Dallas Stars forward Patrick Sharp will return to the ice on Thursday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning at the American Airlines Center, after missing the past six games with a lower body injury.
"Patrick will be back,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff said, per Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News. “Looks like he's ready to go. We'll get him in and see where he's at."
When Ruff met with the team Thursday morning, he harped on cleaning it up on defense, improving play away from the puck, which has been a point of emphasis all year.
At negative-8 on the year, Sharp hasn’t been the model of a great two-way forward, but he believes he can help the defensive effort.
"It's difficult to label guys as certain types of players, but I want that to be an important part of my game," Sharp said. "I think to be a successful team, you have to be good in all three zones, and that's something I'll push for. When our team is playing well, we're a top team in all three zones, and that's our goal. Lindy preaches the right thing, and so it's up to the players to go out and do that."
