Miro Heiskanen is listed as day to day after leaving Tuesday’s 6-5 win over the Washington Capitals with an upper body injury, and the Dallas Stars still are not ready to say whether he will face the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. Heiskanen stayed off the ice after exiting on his first shift of the second period, leaving Dallas to sort out its blue line on the fly.
The question is landing now because Heiskanen is not just any defenseman for Dallas. He leads the team in ice time at 24:53 and has 11 points in 15 games, so his status carries real weight for a club that needs every minute from its top pair. Glen Gulutzan said the injury is less serious than first believed, but he still did not rule Heiskanen out for Thursday’s game, which is the kind of update that keeps the door open without making a promise.
Dallas has reasons to feel good elsewhere. Jason Robertson scored three goals in the win over Washington, all in the second period and all in 5:20, for the seventh hat trick of his career and the third natural hat trick of that career. The burst gave him 18 points in 15 games this season, and he enters the matchup tied with Mikko Rantanen for the team lead in goals, assists and points. Against Columbus, Robertson has 14 points in 17 career games and seven points in his last seven against the Blue Jackets.
Columbus brings its own punch. Charlie Coyle tied his single-game career high with four points in the Blue Jackets’ 7-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche, pushing him to 13 points in 13 games this season and into a tie with Kent Johnson for the team lead. He is also riding an Ironman streak of 424 games, the fifth-longest active run in the NHL, and has 19 points in 41 career games against Dallas.
The friction for Dallas is that the club already has a clear idea of how much Heiskanen matters when he is out. Thomas Harley logged 24:43 and finished with two assists and a plus-3 in Heiskanen’s absence Tuesday, while Esa Lindell and Tyler Myers both saw their ice time climb. That kind of adjustment can hold for one night, but it is not the same thing as having Heiskanen on the ice from the start. Gulutzan said the team will see how he responds, and that leaves Thursday’s answer where it should be for now: unresolved until the lineup card is due.
