During the final days of December and the opening weeks of January, the Dallas Stars will play a hefty number of home games. Capitalizing on them could redirect their entire season.
The Dallas Stars have an opportunity to take their season and fate into their own hands as they play nine of their next 10 games at the American Airlines Center.
There are significant points up for grabs against teams with impressive records, but the Stars can boost their place in the standings with victories, which will prove advantageous moving forward.
Points are Equally Valuable
Points in the NHL are worth the same amount on day one as the final game of the season. There are no points that are more valuable because teams should be earning as many as possible during their 82-game campaigns.
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Of course, there are divisional games that hold more weight. But, if teams like the Stars can find ways to win other games and at least stay competitive against the Central Division, they’ll be just fine.
The key to success is constantly earning points throughout the season. Making the playoffs doesn’t require a 10-game winning streak. It’s about slowly but surely building upon each win and eliminating the issues that existed in losses.
Dallas has the opportunity to do just that over the course of the next few weeks. They play better at home, so now is the time to capitalize on it. Hopefully, they can have a solid streak at home – earning points in as many games as possible – which will then fuel their road game.
Security
The Stars have also – cross your fingers – been relatively lucky this season when it comes to injuries. Last year at this time there were a number of big name players sidelined, but right now it’s limited to a few guys with issues that seem to be resolving themselves.
Of course, it appears that players like Tyler Seguin are playing through injuries, but still, Dallas’ lack of a laundry list of unavailable players has greatly helped them this season.
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That, however, isn’t guaranteed. As the season progresses and teams begin to realize their dreams of playing in the postseason are dwindling, games will intensify. When that happens and the Stars inevitably sustain at least a few injuries, the points they earned in their home games to close out 2017 and start 2018 will be that much more valuable.