Advertisement

sportsStars

Michael Raffl, Luke Glendening aren’t flashy, but provide big value for Stars in playoff chase

Raffl is among the best defensive forwards in the NHL but his offensive output has been a bonus when it comes.

When the Stars signed defensive forwards Michael Raffl and Luke Glendening last summer, it barely made any ripples.

On a team that needed to find goals over the summer, Raffl and Glendening don’t provide them. They were low-budget signings for a team shopping in the bargain aisle — Raffl for one year at $1.1 million and Glendening for two years at $1.5 million apiece. They aren’t fancy. They aren’t all that pretty every game.

But they have been effective in doing their job: playing defense. And when they chip in offensively like they did Saturday night during the Stars’ 2-1 win over the Sharks, it’s a nice bonus.

Glendening fed Raffl a backhanded saucer pass for a shorthanded goal on Saturday night, the eventual game-winner in a crucial win as the Stars try to chase down Nashville for the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.

Sports Roundup

Get the latest D-FW sports news, analysis, scores and more.

Or with:

“It was a big goal,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said Saturday night. “A faceoff goal for us to get us going. We were dominating up until that point, and then we made it 1-0 and we backed off a little bit, but it doesn’t matter. We won the game.”

It was Raffl’s seventh goal of the season and Glendening’s seventh assist of the season, so it’s not like these things are happening often. But you can count on them for defense, particularly Raffl.

Advertisement

Entering Sunday, Raffl was one of the league’s elite defensive forwards this season. With Raffl on the ice at 5 on 5, the Stars allow 9.31 fewer shot attempts per 60 minutes, which is the fifth-best mark in the NHL. He’s also in the top seven in relative shots against (5.32 fewer per 60) and relative expected goals against (0.61 fewer per 60).

Of course, the checking line of Raffl, Glendening and Radek Faksa doesn’t produce much at all on offense, so there’s the tradeoff.

But if the Selke Trophy were actually awarded based on defensive merit, and not players’ overall games, Raffl would surely be a candidate.

Advertisement

For Glendening, he’s never been an offensive juggernaut. His career high for goals is 12. His career high for points is 23. He’ll likely reach neither this season. But he’s been a penalty killing fiend in recent games.

“Well, I’m a hockey player – I love scoring goals, but they’re few and far between for me,” Glendening said. “I had a lot of chances again tonight and couldn’t find one. But I’ve had a chip on my shoulder since the first day I stepped into this league, I never thought I’d be here.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to be here as long as I have and every day is a blessing in this league for sure, but I think I want to prove people wrong, I want to keep doing it. But what gets me going more than anything is just seeing our team grab two points here and be in the fight.”

Glendening has not played in the playoffs since 2016 as the Red Wings have gone through a rebuild, but Bowness has said that Glendening’s attitude is “all in.”

The Stars will need that down the stretch.

“Just stay in the moment,” Bowness said. “There’s a lot of things that happen during the game that you can’t control. Control what you can control and just stay in the moment. We knew we had a couple of not great shifts out there, but you just have to recover from that and you have to move on and get ready for the next shift.”

Forward recalled: The Stars recalled forward Fredrik Karlström from AHL affiliate Texas on Sunday afternoon, giving them another depth forward in case injuries arise during the team’s three-game road trip through Canada.

Karlström is in his first season of North American hockey, and has 16 goals and 13 assists in 65 AHL games this season. He has never played in an NHL game.

Advertisement

Briefly: The Stars had an off day in Vancouver on Sunday. After beating the Sharks on Saturday night, the Stars flew immediately to Canada in order to acclimate to the two-hour time difference and allow the players a full off day on Sunday instead of flying to British Columbia.

+++

Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.