The Dallas Stars will be without Alexander Radulov when they host the New York Rangers Tuesday, however it’s not due to injury or illness.
Radulov was late to his team’s morning skate and Stars head coach Jim Montgomery made the decision to scratch the Russian winger because of it.
The Stars will dress 11 forwards and seven defencemen against the Rangers with Jamie Oleksiak getting back into the lineup and set to serve as the seventh blueliner.
“Radulov’s going to be out. He was late this morning. That’s all I’m going to talk about it,” Montgomery told reporters following his team’s skate.
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The Stars currently occupy the top wild card spot in the Western Conference and sit just three points back of the St. Louis Blues for third place in the Central Division, so sitting Radulov does nothing to benefit the team except to send a message that tardiness won’t be tolerated.
Earlier this season, Radulov was benched for half a period in a Jan. 17 game against the Kings after the 32-year-old mouthed off to his head coach after which Radulov said the punishment “was the right decision.”
Radulov is second on the Stars with 51 points in 54 games played and leads his team with 34 assists.
The Stars are also without injured forwards Andrew Cogliano and Mats Zuccarello. Dallas is looking for its third straight win, while the Rangers have dropped four straight.
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