Losers in 10 of their last 12, the Dallas Stars got some more bad news on Wednesday as Ryan Garbutt was ruled out for a week with a upper-body ailment.
Garbutt, 29, is the club’s sixth-leading scorer this season with eight points through 18 games. He’s also coming off a career year in ’13-14, during which he posted a personal best 17 goals and 32 points. A gritty, physical winger that’s shown some scoring ability, Garbutt was averaging nearly 14 minutes a night for head coach Lindy Ruff this season -- it’s likely his presence will be missed, especially since the Stars were looking to make up some ground this week and the next as they’re on five-game homestand.
That homestand, of course, began with Tuesday night’s disappointing 6-4 loss to Carolina, after which Ruff said Dallas’ terrible play at American Airlines this season (1-5-4) is “the biggest test I’ve ever been through.”