Dallas Stars Will Need Some Significant Help In Playoff Race

Even with a two-game win streak, it still seems as though the Dallas Stars cannot gain any ground in the playoff hunt. With time quickly running out, that remains to be a significant problem.

A win streak. It seems simple enough when you first think about it. All that is required is two wins in a back-to-back fashion. If you have those, then you have a win streak. That’s easy, right?

Apparently not. Just last night, the Dallas Stars secured only their fourth win streak of the season. They defeated the Arizona Coyotes by a whopping score of 5-2 and tacked on a second win behind their first which came a week ago against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Only one of the four win streaks this season for Dallas has lasted longer than two games, and none of them have gone longer than three. In fact, the Stars’ longest streak this season is a four game losing skid.

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It’s just not been the Dallas Stars’ season. They continue to struggle along in the standings and multiple inconsistencies have caused their season to fall into serious jeopardy. Some blame the defense, some blame the goalies, some blame the coaching staff, and some even blame the GM.

Whoever’s fault it is, it doesn’t matter at this point. All that matters is that the Stars have a lot of questions that need to be answered over the next few days. After selling Patrick Eaves yesterday, will they continue to do so with some of their other pending free agents before the trade deadline? Will they try and add a significant player in return? Or will they trudge on in the playoff race?

If they choose the final solution, it’s going to come at a steep price.

As of Saturday morning, the Dallas Stars sit nine points out of the final wild card spot in the Western Conference. The bye week gave the other teams around the Stars a chance to jump up in the standings, and most of them did so.

It is still a six-team battle between the Flames, Predators, Kings, Jets, Canucks, and Stars. Each team is within a handful of points of each other and it is still anyone’s game (though some might already consider the Stars to be out).

But the Stars (24-27-10) are still a long ways out. It can be discouraging to see that even when they are winning, they are still somehow slipping in the ranks. And with 21 games remaining in the season, it’s clear that they will need some serious help. That means that at least four of the teams currently intertwined with Dallas must begin to slip up at some point.

They are in the midst of a five-game homestand at the moment, and each of the final three games will be crucial to the Stars’ hopes. If they truly do have any chance at still making the Stanley Cup Playoffs and going on a run, their games against Boston, Pittsburgh, and the New York Islanders will need to have perfect results.

Next: Stars Should Evenly Distribute The Blame

It’s always fun to indulge in mathematics around this time of a season when your team is right on the brink. As of last night, the Dallas Stars’ playoff hopes sit at 4.75 percent. It’s a small jump up from 2.85 percent, but there’s still a lot of work to do.

And at this point, it looks as though the Stars won’t be able to do it all by themselves.

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