Monday practice update: Gonchar, Nichushkin practice, but not close to return; Ruff talks Lindback

Lindy Ruff addresses the media after practice here.

The Stars on Monday returned to the practice ice after having Sunday off.

Lines were basically the same, although Sergei Gonchar (ankle) and Val Nichushkin (hip/groin) returned to a regular practice for the first time in weeks. That said, coach Lindy Ruff said not to expect either of the injured players to jump back into the lineup anytime soon.

“Both guys are progressing,” Ruff said. They’re going to need a little time to get back in the grind, but we’re at stage 1 and we’re going to move them along.”

Asked if there was a possibility either could play this week, Ruff said: “I don’t think so, no. They haven’t had any practice time, it’s going to take them a bit. Sergei, medically, won’t be cleared for this week anyway, but he can get back to practice.”

Gonchar suffered a fractured bone in his ankle during training camp and has not played a game yet. Nichushkin has been battling hip and groin soreness since the summer. He played sporadically during the preseason, played the first two games, and then was shut down to rest.

Practice lines looked like this:

Jamie Benn-Jason Spezza-Tyler Seguin

Antoine Roussel-Cody Eakin-Ryan Garbutt

Patrick Eaves-Vern Fiddler-Ales Hemsky

Erik Cole-Shawn Horcoff-Colton Sceviour

Alex Goligoski-Trevor Daley

Jordie Benn-Brenden Dillon

Jamie Oleksiak-Kevin Connauton/Jyrki Jokipakka

Kari Lehtonen

Anders Lindback

Lindback also was a big story. The 26-year-old goalie had a hard night in a 7-5 loss to the New York Islanders Saturday. Stars coach Lindy Ruff said Lindback’s teammates allowed several breakaways, but also said that there were conversations with Lindback about how he can be better.

“I had a meeting with him,” Ruff said. “He is really hard on himself. My job is to help support him. He knows he needs to play better. His practice habits and everything are good. We’re talking about some things – we’re talking about options to get him playing better.”

Ruff was asked if the team has thought about calling up Jussi Rynnas from the minors. The team signed both Lindback and Rynnas to one-way contracts in the summer and said there would be a competition for the back-up job. The Stars also have a solid prospect in Jack Campbell playing in the minors.

“The answer, I think, ultimately is yes,” Ruff said. “You can put Rynnas in there. You can put Campbell in there. You’ve got to play well. It’s no different than a fourth line player that goes in and out. You’ve got to play well. If you want to stay in, you’ve got to play well. He understands his role and knows that he has to play well.”

Ruff played Lindback on the second night of a back-to-back and also did that last season with his back-up goalies. The Stars were 4-8-1 on the second night of back-to-backs last season and the back-up goalies went 7-11-1 overall on the season.

Asked if he will take that into account with his decisions moving forward, Ruff said: “No. I’ll take that two points on the first night. You take it one game at a time. You worry about winning the game you are at, which we did. I felt the effort was there to win game two. For me, it was more than just the goaltender that lost the game. That was a team effort to lose the game for giving up a shorty, end-to-end, two-on-ones. That’s not good team play.”

Ruff said he knows the job is tough, but lots of goalies in the NHL handle it.

“I want to do my best to give him the best chance to succeed,” Ruff said. “We made him face some of the toughest opportunities _ I didn’t like that part of it. There are a couple that go through him, I want him to clean up the ones that go through him. You can use whatever word you want. It’s a tough, tough job. I met with him this morning about just how can I help you?”

TOP PICKS