Vancouver Canucks
Stars look to prove hype vs. Canucks (Oct 30, 2017)
Vancouver Canucks

Stars look to prove hype vs. Canucks (Oct 30, 2017)

Published Oct. 29, 2017 8:51 p.m. ET

VANCOUVER, British Columbia -- The Dallas Stars will take their magical mystery tour to Rogers Arena on Sunday night.

The Stars (6-5-0) are struggling to live up to their hype as they visit the surprisingly successful Vancouver Canucks (6-3-1) on Monday night.

Dallas was touted as a top team in many NHL preseason prognostications after making several offseason moves that included new arrivals. The newcomers included coach Ken Hitchcock, who is back for his second stint after leading the Stars to their only Stanley Cup title in 1999, and big-name players like winger Alexander Radulov and goalie Ben Bishop, among others.

However, the Stars have been difficult to peg. They are showing signs of improvement, but not consistency. They enter Monday's game after earning a 2-1 win over the Flames in Calgary on Friday -- and squandering a third-period lead in Edmonton a night earlier.

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But Hitchcock, whose coaching career has been revived in Dallas after he was fired in St. Louis last season before the end of what was intended to be his final campaign there, has few complaints about his team's effort.

"It feels like we've been in playoffs since the start of the season," Hitchcock said in Calgary. "I've said this before: Our record doesn't indicate how well we've played. We deserve a lot better."

The Stars' power play has been earning its rewards lately, though. Dallas has scored five man-advantage markers in the last two games alone. Both Dallas goals came on the power play in Calgary as the Stars maintained their habit of being involved in close games.

"In the last three games, we've played hard and some of our best hockey -- and gotten two points," Hitchcock said. "I think the players are starting to recognize how hard it is to get points in this league, especially on the road. We've just gotta continue to play well."

Goaltender Kari Lehtonen stood out in Calgary while making only his second start of the season. Based on his strong play, Lehtonen could get the start against the Canucks. In the meantime, he is just trying to go with the flow of playing once in a while.

"It's hard to play once in two weeks," Lehtonen said. "You just have to go out there and believe in your abilities as a goalie. It's as simple as that."

Meanwhile, the Canucks have showed faith in the abilities of new coach Travis Green, who has been getting kudos while having more roster depth than predecessor Willie Desjardins. The Canucks, picked by most pundits to miss the playoffs, followed up a successful road trip with a 6-2 victory over the struggling Washington Capitals at home on Thursday.

Green, who was promoted from Vancouver's minor-league affiliate in Utica, N.Y., is earning praise for his open communication style even while limiting the ice time of veterans as the Canucks allow their youth movement to build momentum -- albeit slowly.

"The best coaches I've had, it goes two ways," winger Thomas Vanek, 33, told Postmedia. "You need the trust from him and he needs the trust from you. The biggest thing is honesty. Greener has done a real good job of that and we're winning, so the message is sent well.

"But talk to any player. You want to be around that 15- or 16-minute mark. Right now, that's not happening (for me) so you just try to make the most of what you get."

But Green, who has cut back on Daniel and Henrik Sedin's previous average playing time, indicated that he is not trying to put a quota on Vanek's minutes.

"Everybody wants to play a lot," Green said. "I don't go into a game thinking it's 12 minutes for him. It depends. His play around the net is very strong."

Vanek, signed to a one-year, $2-million deal after toiling for Detroit and Minnesota last season, logged 11:48 against the Capitals, but has four goals on the season. He appears destined to better the 17 that he produced in 2016-17.

Meanwhile, youngsters are also shining under Green. Brock Boeser, 20, who could not get into the lineup for the first two games of the season, is showing that his preseason billing as an NHL rookie-of-the-year candidate might not have been farfetched after all. Boeser has two goals and seven assists in eight games.

In other words, he is managing more than a point per game -- and, for now, the Canucks, unlike the Stars, are becoming less mysterious.

The Canucks called up center Jayson Megna from Utica of the American Hockey League on Sunday. Megna, a 27-year-old Fort Lauderdale native, spent most of last season with the Canucks, but could not crack the lineup in the preseason after the club brought in a number of NHL veterans with more experience. One day earlier, the Canucks returned center Michael Chaput to Utica.

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