Dallas Stars Receiving Aid In Attempt To Take Central Lead
The Dallas Stars can create breathing room in the Central Division race with a win against the Kings tonight. They have other teams to thank for that.
It’s not often that golden opportunities come your way. At least, it does not seem like it. As you go through your everyday life, things come up that you take for granted or take out of spite, but you never really notice what they mean in the grand scheme of things.
Luckily, things are easier for the Dallas Stars. Especially now, considering it is crunch time with the playoff hunt in full swing.
Sure the Stars have already cleared it up that they will be making the Stanley Cup Playoffs (unless of course they lose their last 12 games). But the big battle now falls to how the seeding will work out. Currently in the Central Division, there are three teams battling it out for the top three spots, and all three saw each other last week in a “round robin” sort of setup.
The Dallas Stars took on both the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues, who played each other this past Wednesday, at the American Airlines Center in Dallas this past weekend. The results were not the best one the Stars could have received, but considering they are down a few key pieces due to injury, they were very reasonable.
The Stars completely mauled the Blackhawks on Friday night in a 5-2 routing. On Saturday, they continued to persevere and grit their teeth in tough situations and succeeded as a result. They fought their way back from three different deficits to take the game to a 4-4 overtime slate. The loss happened in the extra period, leaving the Stars with three out of four points in the early part of their five-game homestand.
By Sunday morning, the race for the Central crown was as close as it had been all year: Dallas and St. Louis both at 91 and Chicago at 88. The Hawks had a game in hand to hopefully help cover the deficit.
With the Stars on break until Tuesday, it looked like the other two clubs had a chance to take over the seat of power. But the Calgary Flames and Los Angeles Kings came to the rescue in a big way last night.
The Flames beat down the Blues in a 7-4 massacre and the Hawks were once again embarrassed in a 5-0 thumping.
Yeah, so what? Well, here is what the standings look like now.
Dallas Stars 70 GP 91 PTS
St. Louis Blues 71 GP 91 PTS
Chicago Blackhawks 70 GP 88 PTS
Still close, you say? The fact of the matter is, it will be close until game 82 is in the books and logged away for eternity. Neither of these three teams is likely going to experience any severe downturn, so all three will be in the battle until the end.
More stars: Stars Discovering Drive In Least Likely Places
That being said, two losses last night helped out the Dallas Stars. The Flames win officially gave the Stars a game in hand against the Blues, and the Kings win pushed the Blackhawks to even with Dallas in games played, yet still leaving a gap in points.
Not to mention that the Los Angeles Kings put their all out on the ice tonight against a tough Hawks team. They flew from LA to Dallas last night and will be running on a tight schedule with little sleep involved. If the Stars are looking for revenge against the Kings, this is the way to do it. A win would push them to 93 points and even them up with St. Louis in games played. With only 11 games left, that’s a huge aid.
Next: Niemi Slumping At Wrong Time, Stars Need Him Back
The Stars have a golden opportunity to gain ground tonight. If they can beat the Kings, it will only further solidify their chances at snagging another banner for the rafters next season. But if they can’t, it will further the case that the Stars are still silver-level contenders.