Dallas Stars May Be Smart To Semi-Tank Rest Of Season
The Dallas Stars have seven more games remaining in their schedule, and each one is critical to their final spot in the standings. It might be smart for them to lay back in a couple.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs are almost here. No longer must NHL fans endure the mediocrity of the regular season. It is time for late nights, intense battles, losing of voices, and win-or-go-home parameters to be established.
While some people who are fans of teams outside the playoff bubble will merely be spectators this season, the Dallas Stars have gifted their fan base with a spot in the postseason and an interesting shot at the Cup this season.
Last year, the Stars were coming off of an enticing 2013-2014 campaign that ended with a playoff berth and a successful offseason that followed. Stars fans were looking for their team to leave no stone unturned and make a serious run at Lord Stanley.
Instead, Dallas stumbled through their season mainly because of their ineffective goaltending rotation and their young and lacking defensive core. They ended up falling seven points short of a playoff spot, leaving their fans to wonder what exactly was wrong and how it could be fixed.
Another successful offseason followed this current 2015-2016 regular season, and obviously Dallas Stars general manager Jim Nill got something right. The Stars exploded out of the gate, mowing down almost every team slated on their schedule. By December 31, 2015, Dallas was the best team in the NHL in terms of standings and production.
Since then, their lockdown play has loosened up a bit, but they are still glowing bright. After a 3-1 loss to the Arizona Coyotes last night, the Stars fell to a record of 44-22-9. That record is good enough to put them in first place in the Central Division and over the Western Conference as a whole.
Things are tight among the ranks, though. Here is a quick look at the current rankings in the Central and West as a whole:
Central Division
1. Dallas Stars 75 GP 97 PTS 42 ROW
2. St. Louis Blues 74 GP 95 PTS 38 ROW
3. Chicago Blackhawks 74 GP 91 PTS 41 ROW
4. Nashville Predators 74 GP 89 PTS 34 ROW
Western Conference
1. Dallas Stars 75 GP 97 PTS 42 ROW
2. St. Louis Blues 74 GP 95 PTS 38 ROW
3. Los Angeles Kings 74 GP 93 PTS 42 ROW
4. Chicago Blackhawks 74 GP 91 PTS 41 ROW
5. Anaheim Ducks 73 GP 90 PTS 37 ROW
It’s clearly evident that anything can happen at this point.
The way the Stanley Cup Playoffs work now can be confusing. Basically, the first place team in the Central will play one of the wild card teams. The winner of the Pacific will compete against the other wild card club. After that, the second and third place teams in the Central will play each other. Same goes for the Pacific teams.
So if the playoffs started right this second, the Stars would be playing the Minnesota Wild and the Los Angeles Kings would take on the Nashville Predators. Then the second and third place team in each division would face off.
But do the Dallas Stars want to play the Minnesota Wild in the first round? It’s been over half of a decade since the Stars advanced past the first round of the postseason, and they are looking to finally break that drought this year.
Are the Wild really the team the Stars have the best shot at taking down? In retrospect, it looks like they would. The Stars went 4-1-0 against Minnesota this season and put on a dominant show against them this season. They would probably be the best option for the Stars to advance past the first round, and if the Stars remain the best team in the West they will more than likely be set against the Wild.
But with things being so tight, there is no guarantee that Dallas will keep the hold on that spot. They have both the Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues within easy reach of the title.
That being said, what would happen if the Dallas Stars began to slip and ended up in the second or third place spot in the West behind the Kings?
They would more than likely be matched up with the Nashville Predators. But things would not be as bad as they seem. The Stars always make things intense and interesting with the Preds, and they have a winning record of 2-1-0 against them this year. They play the fourth of five games against Nashville this coming Tuesday, and Stars fans would be smart to keep an eye on a potential first round playoff matchup.
But what if the Stars slump out of first in the Central as well and fall to second? You guessed it: the Stars would take on the Chicago Blackhawks.
Say it isn’t so, right? Not so fast. The Stars have an astounding 4-1-0 record against the Hawks this season. This is the first season in who knows how long that the Stars have bested Chicago in a five game series.
So playing the Hawks may not be the worst punishment. But then again, this is the regular season Hawks vs. playoff Hawks.
Next: Stars Using Both Old Dogs, New Tricks
Either way, the Stars are set up nicely for their first round playoff matchup. But anything can happen, so keep a weary eye open.