Bayreuther a Welcomed Presence in Decimated Stars Lineup
CEDAR PARK, Texas - The Texas Stars entered Saturday night's matchup against the San Antonio Rampage having lost their last four games. Through struggles on the road and injuries up on the parent club, the Stars were both depleted and vulnerable.
Dropping from first to seventh in the Central Division over a span of two and a half weeks, the Stars had to get going somehow over a weekend home-and-home set against their in-state rivals.
But with leading scorer Denis Gurianov and defensemen Dillon Heatherington, Joel Hanley, and Ben Gleason serving with the Dallas Stars due to injuries up north, they didn't know where to look.
Texas made a trade with the Buffalo organization and signed a defenseman out of the ECHL for help on the blueline, but were still a rearguard away from forming a full lineup.
Enter Gavin Bayreuther. A critical part of the Stars' run to the Calder Cup Finals last June, Bayreuther had been out with an undisclosed injury since October 13, but made a surprise return to the Texas lineup in Saturday's 8-1 win over San Antonio.
"Gavin was good," Stars head coach Derek Laxdal said on Saturday. "He brought a lot of patience and poise to our back end as one of the only guys with any experience back there."
Bayreuther was a late addition to the lineup and was not expected to participate that night, but contributed instantly, assisting on the game-opening goal by Stars forward Erik Condra on his first shift of the evening.
"That play kind of got my confidence back up early on and helped me get back in the groove of things," Bayreuther said after the win. "Sometimes you just get pucks on net and good things happen."
He added a power play goal in the second period and was +3 on the night, firing four of the Stars' 29 shots on goal.
"It felt great," Bayreuther said after the win. "It was awesome to come back out today and put my best foot forward again."
The highly-regarded Dallas Stars defensive prospect looked to have no rust. His offensively-oriented gameplay style was effective both at five-on-five and on the power play; Texas tallied three goals on the man-advantage on Saturday, with Bayreuther at the point.
"[The power play] was good. When you're out and you watch, you learn a lot, and it's great to be back out there and put the team on top."
Not only did the 24-year-old provide tactical importance for Laxdal and crew, the Stars blueline's collective youth fed off the more experienced, mature Bayreuther. Though Bayreuther is a young gun of a prospect himself, he played the role of vet tonight.
John Nyberg (22), Shane Hanna (24), Brady Norrish (25), Niklas Hansson (23), and Ondrej Vala (20) shared the defensive zone with the newly-healthy Bayreuther on Saturday. Though Norrish has a year on Gavin, the New Caanan, New Hampshire native has over 90 games more experience at the AHL level.
"Some of the younger guys fed off him," Laxdal said. "It's huge when you get an experienced guy like that [back]."
"I was joking with some of the guys that I was the vet on "D" today, and I've had just over a year of playing in the AHL," Bayreuther said with a laugh. "We have a great group of guys back there and we try to keep it as positive as possible, always having smiles on our faces and I think that's something that helped tonight."
How healthy the St. Lawrence University alum really is remains to be seen, but a positive sign moving forward is just him being out there and playing. On top of that, Bayreuther was arguably the most dangerous Stars player on the ice on Saturday night.
OTHER STARS NOTES:
Texas improved to 5-5-1 with a win on Saturday in the Interstate 35 Rivalry's season opener, winning 8-1 behind an Erik Condra hat trick.
The I-35 Rivalry continued Sunday in San Antonio during their weekend home-and-home set. Texas and San Antonio meet in four out of the Stars' next six games.
Second-year netminder Landon Bow stopped 30 of 31 shots in Saturday's win. Laxdal said, "we're gonna roll with Bow, he's earned the net and he deserves it."
Denis Gurianov and Ben Gleason, playing with Dallas due to injuries on the top-tier club, picked up their first career NHL points in a 5-4 loss to the Nashville Predators. The two have been lethal additions to the Texas lineup this year.
