ST. LOUIS -- Jim Nill was concerned.
It was November of last year when the Stars general manger looked at his defensemen and wondered how it could survive a schedule that two-thirds of its games on the road. How could his blue line manage the piling losses on the back end to contend in coach Jim Montgomery's first season.
"We went into November, I was worried," Nill said. "I said 'We've got this big road trip and we're down five defensemen.'"
The laundry list of maladies is laborious. John Klingberg broke his hand, Connor Carrick broke his ankle, Marc Methot's knee failed him, Stephen Johns didn't play a game because of post-traumatic headaches, Roman Polak was sick at the wrong time.