Dallas Stars Will Be Dangerous Playoff Team If They Make It

With the regular season dwindling, there is now a good chance that the Dallas Stars will miss the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs. But if they make it, they could be one of the most dangerous teams in the mix.

Basically nothing has gone right for the Dallas Stars over the past three weeks.

Since the beginning of March, the Stars have posted a record of 2-4-4. They have fallen from third place in the Central Division to outside the playoff picture entirely. They are winless through five games of a six-game road trip that was supposed to “define their season.” And to top it all of, they are now without their starting goaltender Ben Bishop for at least the next two weeks.

That’s just a summarized version of all of the tragedies facing Dallas Stars hockey right now. But in all reality, there’s much more.

What’s facing the Stars now is a playoff push over the final nine games that will make or break not only their team, but also their fan base. Dallas has fallen from a top team in the division to a playoff hopeful in less than a month, and that is causing plenty of unrest and criticism to spawn. This team simply isn’t winning when it matters most and that’s starting to wear on their aspirations.

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And now they have to fight their way back into the playoff picture. With only nine games left and three other teams in the mix for the two wild card spots, that could prove to be a serious problem. While those other teams are continuing their postseason drives with consistent efforts, the Stars are simply looking for a win to turn their luck around.

Tonight, Dallas will close out their road trip at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C. against the Capitals. The Caps are the best team in the Metropolitan Division at the moment and have already beaten the Stars once this year.

It seems like an impossible test for a Dallas Stars team already facing an uphill battle. The Stars must get two points out of tonight’s contest if they want to spark something in their favor. That isn’t going to be easy for a struggling team to do. But if they can make it happen, things could immediately start looking up. In fact, if the Stars can qualify for the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, they could easily be the most dangerous team in the mix.

While they have some qualities within their roster and makeup that would make them a credible challenger, this all boils down to the road that Dallas will face over the final nine games.

Over the next 19 days, the Dallas Stars will face eight different teams in nine games. Those teams are the Capitals, Bruins, Canucks, Flyers, Wild (twice), Sharks, Ducks, and Kings. Seven of those eight teams are currently sitting in a playoff spot.

With that being said, they have a rough lineup of competition. All of these teams are currently either fighting for their own playoff lives or are simply jockeying for seeding in the standings. With that being said, don’t count on any of them turning down the intensity for Dallas.

The Stars will also play five of their final nine games on the road, where they have struggled substantially this season.

Their starting goaltender is out for at least the next six games, their offense cannot seem to score on a consistent basis, and the team hasn’t been in the win column for 11 days. But now is the time for them to turn it around? Well, it has to be.

And if the Stars can find a way to right their wrongs and put together an impressive stretch going into the postseason, just think about the motivation that it will bring. Driving through an incredibly tough schedule on short rest, putting an unbelievably bad March stretch behind them, and getting back into the postseason picture in time for the first round. That’s motivation that not many other teams will be able to claim.