Stars Notebook: Krahn makes NHL debut, Avery makes Hartford debut
/Andrew's Dallas Stars Page
Stars goalie Brent Krahn got his first taste of NHL action Saturday night and although it didn't go the way he envisioned, he was still excited.
"It is a pretty big deal. I'm pretty excited," said Krahn. "I didn't see it going quite like that, but things rarely go the way you plan them. You've got to keep sticking with it. The guys were real supportive. I would like to have made a few more saves for them. It's one down here, keep building."
Krahn gave up three goals on nine shots in making his NHL debut against Chicago, taking over for Marty Turco to start the third period in the Stars' 6-2 loss to the Blackhawks.
Turco made 24 of 27 stops through the first two periods and came out with the Stars trailing 3-0 heading into the 2nd intermission. Tippett felt the team was hanging Turco out to try, so he made the switch. It didn't go much better for Krahn early in the third.
"I felt sorry for Krahn to go in there and have that happen to him," Tippett said.
Fistric called up, Janik to AHL for conditioning
The Stars called up defenseman Mark Fistric from Manitoba of the AHL Saturday and he was in the lineup Saturday night. Fistric played 21:09, the third highest total among Dallas players in the game.
Stars coach Dave Tippett wasn't making any evaluations of Fistric's performance considering the overall poor performance of the team, but the Stars want to take a look at the big defenseman.
"We just want to see where he's at," Tippett said. "He's a big body and these games are getting more and more physical as it goes along. That should play to his style."
The Stars sent seldom used defenseman Doug Janik to Rockford of the AHL on a conditioning assignment. Janik had an assist and was a plus-one for Rockford Saturday night.
Avery makes Hartford debut
Sean Avery made his debut with the Hartford Wolf Pack Saturday night, picking up no points and three shots on goal in a 4-1 loss to the Manitoba Moose.
"I was definitely a little nervous because it's been a long time since I played in this league, and it's a long time since I played," Avery told reporters after the game. "But that's usually a good thing, and I actually felt better than I expected. My legs felt good, and the hardest part was getting adjusted to the speed. But mentally and physically I felt fine."
He was involved in a couple of minor scrums, but was not penalized. He tossed a few verbal barbs, but nothing spectacular.
"I had a few comments, but nothing that was too drastic," Avery said. "Or something the old Sean would say."
It was Avery's first game in two-and-a-half months. His last game was November 30, when he scored a goal for the Dallas Stars against the Edmonton Oilers.
"Since Sean showed up, he has had a good attitude and mixed in very well with the guys, so everything has been top notch so far," Hartford coach Ken Gernander said. "We wanted to get him in all situations to get him ice time, and I thought he was quite effective at times. There were maybe one or two forced plays, but that's probably just the product of his first game back and him wanting to be successful."
The Stars assigned Avery, who is still Dallas' property, to the Wolf Pack earlier this week.
"I feel good that Dallas has given me an opportunity to come here and play and that the team in Hartford has allowed me to come in and play," Avery said. "I probably could have had a few points if I had buried a few chances or a couple other guys had scored, but other than losing, it was a pretty good night."
