Stars' John Klingberg to sit out vs. Wild after missing team meeting

It hasn’t been a great past few days for young star defensemen in the NHL. Days after the Philadelphia Flyers sat Shayne Gostisbehere, John Klingberg of the Dallas Stars learned he’ll be watching Monday’s game against the Minnesots Wild from the press box.

While Gostisbehere’s benching was performance-related, Klingberg’s was due to a few extra zzz’s, causing him to either be late or miss a team meeting. Stars head coach Lindy Ruff wouldn’t specify.

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“Yesterday was a day off for the team, but he’s going to be treated no differently than anybody else who’s missed meetings,” Ruff said via the Star Tribune’s Mike Russo. “Not going to play. His play’s been up and down. Today was really what has frustrated me with our team. We haven’t been able to maintain a high enough level of consistency, and team-wise, that’s from some players.”

An embarrassed Klingberg apologized to his teammates and said, via Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News, “There are no excuses, I overslept. I told my teammates I’m sorry, it’s not going to happen again.”

Julius Honka has been recalled to take Klingberg’s place in the lineup. Esa Lindell has also been brought up with Johnny Oduya hitting the IR. (When will the Stars catch a break from the hockey gods with all these injuries this season?)

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The season hasn’t started the way Klingberg imagined. He lost his defense partner over the summer when Alex Goligoski went to Arizona, and while he leads all Dallas skaters in time on ice per game (22:53), his offensive numbers aren’t where you’d expected. The 24-year-old Swede has only two goals, both coming against the St. Louis Blues on Nov. 3. Even his possession numbers are way down.

This only adds to Stars’ miserable start (7-7-5) as they prepare to play five of their next seven games on the road, a place where they’ve only won three of 10 games this season.

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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy