Casey DeSmith made his Dallas Stars debut on Sunday evening, continuing what Jake Oettinger started in the team’s net. The result – two straight shutouts.
Of course, those games were against the New York Islanders and the Seattle Kraken, both teams that are expected to struggle offensively this season. Tuesday night, enter the San Jose Sharks, a team that just got shutout by the Anaheim Ducks.
Worse yet – at least as a fan of hockey – number one overall draftpick Macklin Celebrini is week to week and on injured reserve. Joining him as walking wounded are Logan Couture and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, both of whom were slated to play a role way above their age defined pay grade – but nonetheless, their absence pushes other players up the lineup into spots where they are going to have to struggle to succeed.