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Playoffs May Be A Bust, But These Dallas Stars Will Not Quit

By Josh Clark

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An eventful Saturday night left Dallas Stars fans searching through the NHL schedule, once again searching for a scenario that would punch their team’s ticket to the playoffs. At this point, it would seem downright illogical to not let them in.

But the rules don’t constitute allowing a team that “looks” good enough for the trip to enter in, so there is a strong chance that the Dallas Stars will not be advancing to the postseason this year.

The Dallas Stars performed valiantly in the second leg of a back-to-back game against the Vancouver Canucks late Saturday night. After erasing a 2-1 deficit in the third and hopping ahead to a 3-2 lead, the Stars found a way to troll their hopeful fans again, letting in a power play goal with just 1:32 remaining to take it to overtime. But the Stars were not to be outdone, and Kari Lehtonen stood tall a couple times before shining rookie superstar John Klingberg sniped home the winner with just :47 ticks to go.

Next: Dallas Stars Fight Off Vancouver, 4-3 (OT) - Postgame

With the win, the Stars have a game out of hand, but narrow the gap between them and the final wild card spot to six points. The sad thing is, the Sharks and Avalanche have reentered the push, and the Stars lead everyone in the race in terms of games played. Also, if the Winnipeg Jets, who are red hot as of late, can pull off a win against the Blackhawks Sunday, everything shifts back to normal and the Stars are faced with an eight point deficit, only this time they will have just six games to make it up.

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    • But whatever the circumstance may be, one thing seems to be clear in the baffling mist: these Dallas Stars have forgotten about the word “quit.” Out of the vocabulary, off of the mind, gone pecan. These Stars, now 10-4-0 in the month of March, have punched the gas. Even if it may very well have been punched too late, the Stars will continue their push. Even if they are most assuredly knocked out of the race in the next few days (then what on earth are we supposed to write about?), they will make sure to make every remaining game as entertaining and enjoyable as possible. At this point, the Stars may even find a way to win out and still miss the postseason. But they will not quit, that much is certain.

    We have been treated over the last month, and even though it would have been better if they could have treated us in November and February, it is still nice to see their fight.

    Here is the most reasonable scenario that would push the Stars over the hump and into the playoff mix. In order for that to pass, here is what needs to happen:

    The Dallas Stars will need a record of 6-0-0 to finish out the year, no doubt. With 84 points, one loss may as well double-knot the noose at this point. So that is hard enough, but it gets heftily worse and more complicated.

    The Calgary Flames, currently three points ahead of Dallas will need to finish the year on a 3-1-3 streak or worse. Something to keep them up to or under the 96 point bridge. The Stars own the tiebreaker on the Flames, but will need Calgary to slip a bit in order to hop them. If you think that is bad, wait till you see what is next.

    The other team that needs to choke is the Winnipeg Jets. Winners in 7 of their last 9, this challenge is most likely too much for them to succumb to. The Jets are six points ahead of Dallas, and would need to finish the season on a 2-4-1 skid or worse. Anything to keep them at 95 points or less, since they own tiebreaker rights on Dallas.

    It is not easy, and basically impossible at this point. But the one thing that remains certain is that these Dallas Stars will continue to entertain us to the very end, whether that be at April 11th during fan appreciation night and the Stars final appearance before September or beyond. Thank you Stars for making this final push a fun one.

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