John Klingberg’s original plan was to dump the puck deep into the Edmonton Oilers’ zone. But as soon as he received the puck off the face-off in the neutral zone, he changed his mind and fired a knuckler toward Viktor Fasth. The decision proved fruitful.

“It was a lucky one and it got in,” said Klingberg, who has seen "The Mighty Ducks" movies and understands all of the knuckle puck references sent his way since Wednesday night.

The Dallas Stars defenseman is one of the league’s hottest players after recording eight points in his first eight games since being recalled on Nov. 9. But Klingberg realizes the goals and points won’t continue to pile up on a nightly basis.

“I’m a player that can put up some points,” he said Wednesday night after some grocery shopping, “but I don't think the fans, especially me, don’t expect to [get] points every night. I’m just going to try to keep focus and play the same way. I had a pretty good start to the season down in the minors and just kept playing when I come up here. For me, it’s just keep staying focused, don’t try and think about it too much and just keep playing the same way.”

It could have turned out differently for the 22-year old Klingberg. He’s putting up points like a forward, and had it not been for a decision made when he was 15, he could have found himself still playing up front.

“It was my own decision. I always wanted to score the goals when I was a kid,” he said. “I started growing pretty late, so I kind of lost a little bit of my good game when I was a kid. Then I had a coach, and my dad and grandfather said ‘maybe you should play D, I think that’s a better spot for you. You can see the ice and I think you can be pretty good at that.’ So I just tried it a couple of games. That’s maybe why I’m so offensive because I always played forward before.”

Surgery on both of his hips prevented Klingberg from playing a full season for several years, but in 2013-14 he managed to play 50 games with Frolunda of the Swedish Hockey League, posting 11 goals and 28 points. It was important for him to get that playing time as he worked himself back into shape before coming to North American to make his mark.

Since getting healthy, you can’t bring up Klingberg’s name without hearing comparisons to Ottawa Senators captain and fellow Swede Erik Karlsson. Even his own head coach, Lindy Ruff, has brought it up. While he’s honored being mentioned in the same breath as the Norris Trophy winner, the Stars’ blueliner is not concerning himself with that talk.

“I don’t try to be like someone else,” he said. “But, of course, I look at a player like Karlsson, [Drew] Doughty, other righties, and even like Oliver Ekman-Larsson and those guys, how they play and what they do on the ice that makes them so good. That’s something that I’ve been looking at a little bit, but just trying to do my own thing, start my own thing and don’t try to copy other guys, Just learn a little more.”

Klingberg is also learning off the ice about the many things to do in Texas. He said he's still trying to understand the rules of America football and adjusting to the warmer weather. There's also country music, which is growing in popularity in Sweden, he says. But you won't find him strapping on cowboy boots at a local country western bar any time soon.

“No, I’m not dancing," he joked.

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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

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