Group play began this morning for Men's hockey, and the Stars players made some very nice debuts.
Kari Lehtonen
Kari didn't get any playing time today in Finland's 8-4 victory over Austria.
Tuukka Rask got all the playing time in this game, though he didn't play particularly well. He allowed four goals on 20 shots while Lehtonen was the backup in this game.
It looks like Kari will be making his debut on Friday against Norway.
Jamie Benn
The Stars captain had a fantastic game despite playing limited minutes in Canada's 3-1 win over Norway.
He drew a penalty in the second period and made some great plays that led to Canada scoring on the delayed penalty. He then scored Canada's second goal from a good pass from Patrice Bergeron. He roofed the puck over Lars Haugen with a great snipe from the left circle..
Here's a gif, courtesy of @PeteBlackburn.
Benn finished with three SOG and 8:52 of ice time playing mostly with Bergeron and Tavares. He also did some PK work.
Val Nichushkin
It was a bit of a surprise to us as Nichushkin wasn't a scratch. Reports throughout the week seemed to indicate that Val would be sitting this game out but he was dressed and ready to go when this game started.
Val certainly didn't cause any regrets as he had a great game. He was everywhere in his 10:29 of ice time and scored a great goal when he rushed the net and got one past the Slovenian goalie. It would be a great upset if he's not in the lineup for Russia's next game, which just happens to be against the U.S.
