Dallas Stars: Evaluating Western Conference Playoff Race This Week

The Western Conference playoff race enters one of its final weeks with the standings as tight as ever. What do the Dallas Stars and their fellow competitors have to look forward to this week?

Another week of the regular season is on deck for the Dallas Stars and the rest of the Western Conference.

It’s Mar. 5, 2018, which means there are only 35 days left in the 2017-18 NHL regular season. That translates out to exactly five weeks remaining, including the current one. That’s not a lot of time.

And yet, it still seems like any number of things could happen in the Western Conference playoff race. That’s partly due to the tightness of the standings as well as the extensive number of teams still involved.

There are eight points separating eight teams between the Central Division and Pacific Division. That’s a lot considering the time remaining in the season continues quickly ticking away.

Dallas Stars

Sitting in the middle of the race is the Dallas Stars. With a record of 37-23-5 with 79 points in 65 games, the Stars own sole control of the first wild card spot. Before Minnesota beat Detroit yesterday and picked up two points, Dallas sat in third place in the Central.

The positions are constantly juggling as every game becomes more and more crucial. Teams currently in playoff spots like the Stars need wins to lock themselves in as playoff contenders while teams on the bubble need wins to claw back into the picture. It’s a delicate balance that seems to constantly change in both divisions. And where will the Dallas Stars fall by game 82? Your guess is as good as ours.

The Stars have shown significant promise over the past few games. They have rallied in certain situations and picked up valuable points in the process. But the rest of the West is keeping up in one way or another and not making it easy on Dallas by any means. Any slip up by the Stars could prove to be critical.

And that’s where another challenging week for Dallas could come into play. The Dallas Stars have four games on tap this week, and the results could very well make or break their season.

But what are the teams around them doing? Are they in a similar corner as Dallas or do they have a walk in the park that will only make the Stars’ trek to the postseason more difficult?

As of Monday morning, here are the standings out West.

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Central Division

1. Nashville Predators 65 GP 93 PTS

2. Winnipeg Jets 65 GP 87 PTS

3. Minnesota Wild 66 GP 81 PTS

Pacific Division

1. Vegas Golden Knights 65 GP 89 PTS

2. San Jose Sharks 66 GP 79 PTS

3. Anaheim Ducks 66 GP 78 PTS

Wild Card Race

1. Dallas Stars (Central) 65 GP 79 PTS

2. Los Angeles Kings (Pacific) 66 GP 77 PTS

3. Colorado Avalanche 65 GP 76 PTS

4. St. Louis Blues 66 GP 75 PTS

5. Calgary Flames 66 GP 73 PTS

Here’s a breakdown of what each of the eight teams in the Western Conference race have on their plates over the next seven days. Feel free to reference back to this whenever you need it over the next week when trying to compare how a team’s results will affect the Stars.

Pacific Division Race

While it may seem folly to worry about a division that the Dallas Stars are not associated with, the results of the Pacific could affect the Stars in significant ways.

There are a few teams within a handful of points of each other in the Pacific. This has led to a constant changing of the guard in the top three and in the wild card race. Different teams are catching hot and cold streaks and swapping positions.

With that being said, let’s look at the four teams Dallas should keep an eye on considering they themselves are currently in the wild card race with the rest of these teams.

San Jose Sharks

Games: 2 (3/8, 3/10)

Opponents: St. Louis Blues, Washington Capitals

While they aren’t a direct threat, the Sharks are dangerously close to falling out of their long-held second place spot in the Pacific. After winning on Sunday, the Ducks moved to just one point out of second. They are threatening the Sharks, as are the Kings who are two points behind. If the Sharks have an off week, they could quickly find themselves in the wild card race along with Dallas (who they have the same amount of points as).

The Stars do have something working in their favor, though. If the Sharks can pull out a win against St. Louis on Thursday, it could deal another severe blow to the Blues’ playoff hopes. Though they don’t carry a significant weight in the Stars’ world, go ahead and keep an eye on the Sharks just in case.

Anaheim Ducks

Games: 3 (3/6, 3/8, 3/9)

Opponents: Washington Capitals, Nashville Predators, Dallas Stars

The results of the Ducks’ games this week could make things very interesting in the Western Conference race.

After taking on a soaring Capitals team on Tuesday, the Ducks will lock in for matchups with the Predators and Stars. That’s two Central Division opponents currently locked in a tightly contested Central contest.

Just as they did on Saturday against St. Louis, the Stars will have another chance to pin a team behind them with this game against Anaheim. But while the Ducks and Kings scrap it out for third place in the Pacific, the Stars merely have to worry about themselves.

Pucks and Pitchforks

Los  Angeles Kings

Games: 2 (3/8, 3/10)

Opponents: Washington Capitals, St. Louis Blues

The Kings sit directly behind the Stars, with a two point gap separating the two clubs. They also squad off with the Capitals and Blues this week (like San Jose).

Though the Stars have a game in hand on the Kings, that will disappear quickly by the end of the week. So the Stars need to make this one count.

Calgary Flames

Games: 4 (3/5, 3/7, 3/9. 3/11)

Opponents: Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres, Ottawa Senators, New York Islanders

The Islanders are in panic mode right now. The team has dropped six of its past eight games and now sits at the bottom of the playoff race in the West. There is still time to turn things around, but their postseason hopes are fading quickly.

Depending on how this week goes, the Flames could either potentially gain ground or be considered out of the race completely. And with a slate full of Eastern Conference teams, it could really go either way.