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Dallas Stars Must Play Waiting Game During Week Off

By Josh Clark

Feb 18, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars left wing Patrick Sharp (10) and left wing Antoine Roussel (21) and defenseman John Klingberg (3) and defenseman Esa Lindell (23) celebrate Roussel scoring a hat trick against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeat the Lightning 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 18, 2017; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars left wing Patrick Sharp (10) and left wing Antoine Roussel (21) and defenseman John Klingberg (3) and defenseman Esa Lindell (23) celebrate Roussel scoring a hat trick against the Tampa Bay Lightning during the third period at the American Airlines Center. The Stars defeat the Lightning 4-3 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Dallas Stars’ next game is not until Friday night, meaning they have the upcoming week off. They will have to keep a close eye on the teams around them in the standings and hope for some luck along the way.

Los Cabos, Mexico. It’s a beautiful place and a popular destination for vacations. It’s also where a few members of the Dallas Stars will be vacationing for the next few days as they endure a five-day break.

As part of a league-wide scheduling procedure, each NHL team has a five-day “bye week” lodged in their schedule in which they get a chance to recharge and prepare for the final stretch of their season.

The Stars are now on day two of their break. While it will be nice for Dallas to take a break after playing nine games in the first eighteen days of February, they will have to stay focused on the league happenings.

After a thrilling overtime victory against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday night that included a little bit of everything you’d want in a win, the Dallas Stars chopped their playoff deficit to six points. In other words, they now sit six points out of the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.

Dallas Stars
Dallas Stars /

Dallas Stars

The majority of this season has been an extended and grueling battle between six different teams in the West for the final two spots. The Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks, Winnipeg Jets, Los Angeles Kings, Calgary Flames, and Nashville Predators are all currently intertwined in the fight, with eight points (four wins) separating the top of the list from the bottom.

Unfortunately, the Stars find themselves at the bottom of the list at the moment with little room for error. In fact, with only 22 games remaining in the season for Dallas, most people have already counted them out. Their playoff chances sit at 2.85 percent. With the trade deadline right around the corner, that usually signals that it’s time to sell some of their assets and prepare for next year.

But, as they always seem to do, the Stars’ win on Saturday night turned some heads, making it once again difficult to say that they are submitting for good. They just seem to love running up and down the hope meter until the very last second.

This season, however, they are still in quite a substantial hole. The question is whether they will have the charisma and drive to dig themselves out.

Though we won’t know until Friday night whether the Stars’ play will even be good enough to help them continue chipping away at the standings, it’s clear that they will need some assistance from the teams around them. That is, they will need each one to suffer a couple of losses here and there.

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As of Monday morning, here are the standings in the West wild card race.

WC1. Nashville Predators 58 GP 64 PTS

WC2. Calgary Flames 59 GP 62 PTS

3. Winnipeg Jets 62 GP 61 PTS

4. Los Angeles Kings 58 GP 60 PTS

5. Vancouver Canucks 60 GP 58 PTS

6. Dallas Stars 60 GP 56 PTS

It’s not the most encouraging position to be in, but if we know anything about the NHL, it’s that anything can happen.

The first thing you probably notice is that Dallas does not have games in hand on anyone except the Jets. That’s not the right situation to be in when you’re at the back of the race. But this week will give each team a chance to catch up with the Stars in terms of games played. Here’s a quick look at what each team is set to endure.

Nashville Predators: vs. Calgary Flames (2/21), vs. Colorado Avalanche (2/23)

This will push Nashville to 60 games alongside Dallas and could potentially get them 12 points ahead of the Stars if they win both.

Calgary Flames: @ Nashville Predators (2/21), @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2/23), @ Florida Panthers (2/24)

Calgary will be at 62 games when the Stars play their 61st on Friday. They could potentially jump to 12 points ahead of Dallas as well.

Winnipeg Jets: @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2/21)

The Jets will play one final game and jump to three games ahead of Dallas before taking their own week-long break. A win would push the Jets seven points ahead of the Stars.

Los Angeles Kings: @ Colorado Avalanche (2/21), vs. Boston Bruins (2/23)

The Kings will jump up to 60 games as well before Friday and have a chance to build an eight-point lead on the Stars.

Vancouver Canucks: no games scheduled

After losing 3-2 to the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday night, the Canucks entered their break that will last until Saturday, Feb. 25.

As you can tell, the Stars are going to need a good amount of help. These teams could build massive and practically insurmountable leads if they can go on a hot streak.

Next: Stars' OT Win Was Necessary To Restore Team Confidence

For the Dallas Stars, all they can do is sit and watch. It’s going to take a lot of muscle from multiple opponents to shut down the teams currently standing on top of the Stars. It’s crazy to think that the Stars’ season could legitimately be determined in a week where they do not even step on the ice.

It’s going to be an interesting week. Time to sit, wait, and pray.

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