Dallas Stars Have Three Divisional Games To Salvage Play

It’s all or nothing for the Dallas Stars in this final week before their six-day break. If they have any shot of still making the postseason, this is their absolute last chance to right the ship.

Valentine’s Day. It’s a day of showing and spreading love across the world to the ones we hold dear.

But for the Dallas Stars, it’s Judgement Day. Tonight, the Stars will face-off with the Winnipeg Jets in a Central Division shootout in Manitoba. The scary part is that one team will leave with their playoff hopes all but absolutely extinguished.

The Stars and Jets are currently neck-and-neck in the standings, but it’s on the wrong side of the ranks. Dallas sits 11th while Winnipeg sits 12th, but both are at 54 points. They are at the bottom of a stacked Western Conference playoff race that currently involves six teams (seven if you count the third place spot in the Central Division, which is nine points away).

Both need a win to keep their faint playoff hopes alive, and the loser will find themselves in sole possession of the playoff basement and may as well start racking up for next year.

Dallas Stars

So a lot is riding on this game. These are rather precious points.

Whether you believe that the Dallas Stars should abandon ship now or continue pushing forward, this week will help make a final determination. There’s no going back after this.

The Dallas Stars have a three-game slate in the upcoming week, including visits to Winnipeg (25-29-4) tonight and Minnesota (37-12-6) on Thursday to face the Wild (this one might be scary). They will then travel back home for a game against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night.

Three games, six possible points. The Stars are currently six points out of the final wild card spot, eight out of the first, and nine out of third place in the Central. So six points could potentially do some wonders for Dallas.

But that seems as though it may be too difficult for the Stars to achieve. They’ve only pieced together three win streaks this season, and they have won three in a row only once. Winning out this week would require three wins in a row. Isn’t that like the equivalent of finding a unicorn in your kitchen at 3 a.m. eating your peanut butter? It just seems too good to be true or real.

Nonetheless, three wins could potentially push the Stars into a playoff spot (depending on how the teams around them do) or at least get them closer to making a dent. It would also help thin out the herd, considering Winnipeg’s hopes would practically be on life support. But Dallas has yet to prove that they are capable of piecing together win streaks on a consistent basis.

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Three wins would also help Dallas get back to a .500 record. They currently sit at 22-25-10 with 54 points in 57 games.

Following the three-game set, Dallas will embark on a six-day break while the other teams around them play “catchup.” Each NHL team is getting a five or six day rest around this time in the season, so the Stars will have a multi-game lead on the majority of the teams around them.

That means it will be a week-long process of watching closely and hoping that other teams slip up. Their next game will not be until Friday, Feb. 24th against the Arizona Coyotes.

This week will determine everything for the 2016-17 Dallas Stars. Maybe you believe that Dallas is already doomed and that they have already sealed their fate. Or maybe you are preparing for a miraculous comeback that includes a 10-game win streak and puts Dallas back in the top three of the Central.

Next: Stars Aim For Something Positive Against Jets

Whatever your thoughts on the subject are, this week will set it all into perspective. There’s no going back after this week. On Sunday morning, the Dallas Stars will either be hardcore buyers or will be having a fire sale and clean house. They will either be back in the thick of the playoff hunt with plenty of potential to build on or be preparing for 2017-18.

It all comes down to this week. Three games, three quality opponents. Backs on the wall, everything on the line. Inhale and hold.