Dallas Stars forward Mason Marchment required surgery after taking a puck in the face in a game against the Minnesota Wild on December 27th (as per Owen Newkirk of DLLS Sports). Marchment did not travel with the Stars on the five-game road trip that takes them to the East Coast and is still considered week-to-week.
Doctors had to wait for over a week to decide on how to proceed with Marchment because of how severe the swelling to his face was. Ultimately, they went with a surgical procedure, which likely means that the 29-year-old will be out for a few more weeks.
The Stars have several good young players they can call on to replace Marchment. However, it will be tough as he has been on a tear this season, posting 12 goals and 15 assists in 33 games, which ranks fourth in team scoring.
The Stars tweeted tonight that defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin would be doubtful to return to tonight’s game against the New York Rangers due to an upper-body injury. Nothing has been confirmed about the 30-year-old’s injury, but it likely occurred in the middle of the second period when Lyubushkin fumbled the puck in the corner of the Stars’ defensive zone and then took a hard hit into the boards from Rangers forward Sam Carrick. Lyubushkin fell awkwardly and was slow to get to his feet, he did not come out with his teammates for the start of the third period.