The Dallas Stars have recalled center Joel Lundqvist from their American Hockey League affiliate, the Iowa Stars.
Joel is the identical twin brother of New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, and with the Stars and Rangers set to meet in Dallas tonight, they could become the first twins in nearly 13 years to play against each other in an NHL game.
Lundqvist is in his first professional season in North America, and in 25 games with Iowa, the 24-year-old has recorded a team-leading 22 points on eight goals and 14 assists.
He made his NHL debut with Dallas earlier this month and appeared in four games during his initial recall.
According to the NHL Public Relations Department, tonight’s game between Dallas and New York could be just the third time in NHL history that a set of twin brothers would play on opposite teams in the same game. Most recently, Rich Sutter and the Chicago Blackhawks faced Ron Sutter and the Quebec Nordiques on Mar. 14, 1994.
The last time a pair of twins faced each other in the AHL was on Feb. 11, 2001, when Peter Ferraro played for the Providence Bruins and Chris Ferraro skated for the Albany River Rats. The Ferraros nearly squared off again last month, but Chris was scratched from the lineup by the Hartford Wolf Pack in their game against Peter’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers on Nov. 25.
