Game Day Guide: Stars vs Penguins

First Shift 🏒

Marchment is a high-event player.

Since joining the Stars in 2022, he leads the team in both penalties taken and penalties drawn. The lanky winger is in the thick of the fight pretty much every game, a sort of swizzle stick in the middle of a frothy hockey drink. So when he missed more than a month with a fractured orbital bone, the team felt it. And as he has tried to transition back into the speed of play since early February, he has had his ups and downs.

But with two goals and five assists in his past four games, Marchment seems to be right back in the middle of the mix. Playing on a line with Duchene and Granlund, Marchment is back to the player he was in the first quarter of the season.

“He was out for a long time, and it can take a while,” Duchene said. “You can see it all coming together for him now. He’s a very tenacious player when he’s on, and that’s what I’ve seen from him. He’s keeping pucks alive, he’s turning pucks over for us, he’s making those little plays that he’s used to making.”

Duchene calls Marchment the best “F1” in the league, meaning he gets in hard on the forecheck and he creates trouble for opposing defenses. That’s a pretty good skill-set for a top line player, coach Pete DeBoer said.

“He’s the kind of guy you want to play with,” DeBoer said. “The puck is going to go in and he’s going to put pressure on the other team and he’s going to find a way to get it back. That’s what all offensive players want. They don’t want to dump the puck in, they understand it’s a necessity, but he’s a guy who is going to go get it back for them.”

The fact that Marchment is able to do that after recovering from the facial fracture is impressive. He’s wearing a facemask similar to a football helmet, but he said that makes him feel protected. And when you combine that with his size and skill, having that confidence makes a huge difference.

“Sometimes, when you’re out for a couple of months, it can be hard to jump right back in and be where you were,” Marchment said. “For me, I’m just trying to get better every day and get back to where I was. It feels better, for sure.”

Duchene said it’s fun to watch the process.

“When you’re out that long, it can take a minute for it to come back,” Duchene said. “He’s working hard and you can see that he’s making big plays.”

At just the right time, too. Dallas is on a seven-game winning streak and trying to chase down Winnipeg for first place in the Central Division.

“When he’s on, he’s a hard guy to handle out there,” DeBoer said. “He’s noticeable because he’s got a great combination of size and grit and skill. When he’s feeling confident and feeling good about his game, he’s a really effective player.”

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