EDMONTON, Alberta – Jere Lehtinen knows only one speed – full.

That's one reason the Stars right wing, who missed 33 games because of a sports hernia, decided to wait a couple of extra days before returning to the lineup.

"He said on Monday he was close to being ready, but then on Tuesday, he said, 'Maybe, just a couple of more days,'" Stars coach Dave Tippett. "He just needs to feel 100 percent, and he definitely feels that now."

Lehtinen returned to the lineup Friday against the Oilers. Prior to the game, he said he would try to keep his shifts short, but he also said that he wouldn't conserve energy during a shift.

"I think it's just, I play the same way I play," Lehtinen said. "When I'm out there, I am only thinking of playing one way. You might want to keep your shifts a little shorter, that is going through your mind, but you aren't thinking of being careful or slow. When you are in the game, you have to go hard."

That's one of the reasons the Stars love Lehtinen so much. They missed his hard work and his energy when he was out of the lineup – and they also missed the bar he sets for his teammates.

"We call him the sweeper – he sweeps up a lot of messes," Tippett said. "He's still one of the best two-way players in the league."

Lehtinen played primarily on a line with Mike Modano on Friday, but Tippett said he will probably try Lehtinen in several scenarios. He had 19 points in his first 21 games while playing on a line with Mike Ribeiro and Brenden Morrow, and Tippett put Lehtinen on the power play with those two against the Oilers.

"Over the next few weeks, that will all sort itself out," Tippett said "There are individual players and individual concerns, but how the group meshes is the greatest concern of all."

No grudge: Stars winger Niklas Hagman played in Florida when Mike Keenan was general manager of the Panthers and was traded to the Stars by Keenan in 2005 for a seventh-round draft pick.

But Hagman said he has no problem with the man who is now coach of the Flames.

"We had a love-hate relationship," Hagman said. "If I see him, I will say hi. If there was a chance I could go to a team he coaches, I wouldn't say no."

Briefly: The Oilers on Friday traded D Dick Tarnstrom to Columbus for LW Curtis Glencross. ... The Oilers saluted their fans in a pregame ceremony that recognized their 100th consecutive sellout. ... The Stars have yielded the first goal to the opposition 27 times this season.