Dallas Stars Are Not Out Of The Woods Yet; Winning Is A Must

The Dallas Stars may not have put together their most crafty performance, but they rallied together in the end and won a 2-1 shootout effort against the Winnipeg Jets. But even with the two points, the Stars are still in the thick of it.

Taylor Swift’s newest album “1989” was released on October 27, 2014. The album quickly took off as it was expected to and debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200. It also became the best-selling album in the U.S. market for the 2014 year. This was Taylor Swift’s biggest album ever, receiving eight Grammy nominations.

Some of her songs will go down as classics, such as “Shake It Off” and “Blank Space”. But one of the very underrated songs on the album is “Out Of The Woods”. While the song is about a certain relationship, the main chorus of “Are we out of the woods yet?” is a rather intriguing one. It can also associate to the Dallas Stars current situation.

On Thursday night, the Dallas Stars were once again in the trenches trying to fight their way out of a three-game losing rut. They welcomed the Winnipeg Jets, who were dead last in the Central Division, to their rowdy abode for their second meeting of the season.

The Stars just did not look like themselves through the first 40 minutes of the game. Tyler Seguin broke rookie goaltender Connor Hellebuyck early in the first period to take the 1-0 lead for Dallas. They would eventually give Mathieu Perreault the chance to tie the game at one, and he would. This tie would stand true throughout an intense final 20 minutes and the five-minute overtime.

The Dallas Stars would eventually take control in the shootout and walk away with the narrow 2-1 win. That improved their record to 8-2-1 in the Central Division this season, matching their win total from the entirety of last season in the division.

But this was only the Stars 43rd game of the season, and they still have a long way to go before game 82. In other words, they are not out of the woods yet. Indeed, they still have a long way left to go.

Not only that, but the Dallas Stars first-place standing in the Western Conference and Central Division is still in danger of being snatched away.

The Stars dropped three straight games to kick off 2016 and some of the top challengers in their division made them pay for it, primarily the Chicago Blackhawks. The Hawks won three straight games to start the year and are on a five-game winning streak. As a result, they are now second place in the division and are a mere eight points back with a game in hand. So the Stars room for error is minimal at best.

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They also have some things they could afford to clean up. Their power play efforts over the past few games have been subpar, scoring on just one of 16 attempts (6.25 percent) over the past six games. Their defense and goaltending were much improved last night, but they still had trouble generating their typical high-powered offense.

The Stars have no time to sit back and waste even as slightly as one game. Even after their best start in franchise history, they are still somewhat near dropping into second or even third in their division. That’s just how the Central goes. No one ever seems to lose.

So no, the Dallas Stars are not out of the woods yet. Are they in the clear? We could only wish so. But this team has proven its resilience and power this season and that it knows how to stand tall against any challenge. If they are truly meant to be an NHL frontrunner this season, they will figure out a way to protect their spot and claim what is rightfully theirs.

Next: Stars Get Back On Track, Beat Jets 2-1 In Shootout

But until then, we’ll just have to listen to Taylor Swift on repeat and come to grips with the fact that they will never truly be in the clear until Lord Stanley is raised high above Jamie Benn‘s head.

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