Stars Screened in Big Smoke

The Texas Stars rolled through the Big Smoke as the Toronto Marlies hosted the Dallas Stars affiliate and skated to a low scoring 2-1 win. Texas has struggled offensively, with a low scoring lineup further depleted on the backend by the loss of Ivan Vishnevsky in a trade that brought Kari Lehtonen to Dallas. The low scoring affair was indicative of the type of defensive game, and lack of high-end talent on the roster. McKeen's correspondent Gus Katsaros was on hand to file notes on a few Texas Stars.

Aaron Gagnon (Dal), C, Texas

Leads the Stars in points though well under a point-per-game pace .. has good skating technique, starting with good first-step acceleration and usually culminating in a strong skating stride and quick start/stops .. has balance problems at higher end, particularly when carrying the puck .. defensively responsible and used as a first unit penalty killer .. as leading scorer, he is also on the first powerplay unit .. lapsed into a perimeter game for most of the first two periods, selective in sneaking into dirty areas for chances .. seemed more of a support player than a star, and not the likely candidate to be leading the club in scoring.

Scott McCulloch (Chi), LW, Texas

Smallish, defensive role player, stayed mostly on the perimeter .. exhibited great patience and puck control skills, missing high-end creativity and vision with exception of great spans of time to make a play .. took an ugly penalty in the second period with a blatantly high stick foul, almost careless in nature and Marlies took a 2-0 lead on that powerplay, which ended up as the game winner .. physical and actively finishes his checks, a little too aggressively, and gets caught out of position for the sake of hitting - could be more selective in this regard .. struggled with defensive positioning and often stopped moving his feet, and lost momentum in defensive posture, requiring more energy to get to his assignments, yet seemed to indicate a profound sense of defensive awareness and used in critical defensive zone faceoffs .. pace and urgency could use a boost, especially when the game was still winnable.

Perttu Lindgren (Dal), C, Texas

Visible around the puck early in the game, yet showed little early enthusiasm/drive into making this game his own .. a little soft, hesitant to initiate contact and shied away from a lot of board battles .. lost majority of 1-on-1 battles in first period .. deemed as a center, he didn't take faceoffs, lining up on the left side and then back to the middle once the play was under way .. guilty of not moving his feet, and even worse, not moving at all, staying in a solitary spot waiting for the play to come to him instead of becoming an outlet .. easy to defend against .. seemed to stickhandle and maneuver better when he wasn't moving his legs to skate .. excellent stickhandling skills, good vision and complementary distribution ability, offset by lack of enthusiasm .. low key, didn't show enough offensive talent and wasn't used enough defensively.

Mathieu Tousignant (Undrafted), RW, Texas

Uses an unusually long stick for his height .. undersized, yet energetic and feisty, getting his body in the way of opponents and using some obstruction type interference - a wonder he didn't get called for more than just one penalty .. great hustle and sense to get to the front of the net and stay there with offensive pressure .. lacks somewhat in physical response - mainly due to size restriction - while making some questionable decisions on the ice physically, missing some checks and slamming himself into the boards .. doesn't use his body smartly, mostly due to preservation and steadily resorted to blatant stick fouls .. won't sacrifice his tiny body to do the job .. started the game on a fourth line, promoted midway through, and back to fourth line to end the game.