DENVER – Versus probably saw a spike in subscriptions in Northern Minnesota on Wednesday night.

With Stars defenseman Matt Niskanen making his NHL debut against Colorado, folks in his hometown of Virginia, Minn., and at the University of Minnesota-Duluth were scrambling to find a place to watch the game.

"I know a lot of the Iron Range is looking for a bar or calling their cable people," Niskanen said.

The 20-year-old, who was taken 28th overall in 2005, appeared calm, considering the pressure. His parents flew in to watch the game, and he was lining up against some pretty salty forwards in Joe Sakic, Ryan Smyth and Milan Hejduk. But Niskanen said his plan was doable.

"You want to play solid, especially with the lineup Dallas has," he said. "Less is more. Make simple, solid plays and try to be a plus player."

Niskanen said playing 25 games in the American Hockey League helped him get used to an NHL where forecheckers are allowed to skate in hard and put pressure on the defensemen. He said it also helped that he played in the preseason, including one game at Pepsi Center.

"He has poise with the puck; that's one of his main strengths," Stars coach Dave Tippett said. "He doesn't get flushed out; he makes good plays."

Salary cap tight: If the Stars carry the 23 players currently on the roster, they would use about $48.2 million in salary-cap space. The cap is $50.3 million this season. That doesn't leave much room for the Stars to try to get a scoring winger.

"It's what we expected," Stars general manager Doug Armstrong said. "If we're going to make a trade, we're going to lose some salary, so that creates room. Plus, the longer the season goes, the more salaries come down."

The Stars will take a small salary-cap hit for injured minor leaguer Vojtech Polak until he is healthy and ready to return to the minors. Because he played at the NHL level last season and was hurt when he was on the Stars roster during the preseason, Polak is considered an NHL player on injured reserve right now.

Fourth-line shuffle: Steve Ott played at center for pretty much all of the preseason and Brad Winchester played left wing. Yet, on opening night, Ott moved to left wing and Winchester to right wing. That's just the way it's going to be on the fourth line this season.

"All of those players recognize that we can gear our lineup different ways on any given night," Tippett said. "We have players who fit into several roles, and they know exactly what's expected. That's the reality of being a good teammate. They jump around."

Briefly: The Stars gave minor leaguer Matt Nickerson his outright release. He was about to be assigned to Idaho of the ECHL and asked for his release so he could sign in Finland. ... The Stars entered the game with the fourth-longest unbeaten streak in season openers at 7-0-3. ... LW Niklas Hagman played his 400th career regular-season game.