Dallas Stars Finish Home Slate With Fan Appreciation Night Against Wild

Tonight’s the night. The Dallas Stars will play their final home game of the regular season against the Minnesota Wild. It’s also Fan Appreciation Night, and it would be a great time for the Stars to close out their home slate with a win.

The Dallas Stars have one more chance and they better make it count.

Tonight, the Stars will play in their final home game of the 2017-18 regular season. It’s also likely to be their final home game of the year. Dallas currently sits six points out of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with four games to go. Not only would they need to win out, but Anaheim and St. Louis would need to lose every single one of their final games.

So with that, there’s not a lot to go on. After turning in a 3-8-4 record through the month of March, there’s really no argument to be made that Dallas still deserves a playoff spot, either. But nevertheless, they fight on.

Tonight’s game is against the Minnesota Wild, a Central Division foe that further buried the Stars’ slim playoff hopes by beating them 5-2 on Thursday night. It was a similar story as it has been all month, with Dallas playing hard and making good strides but making a few key mistakes that killed them altogether.

More from Blackout Dallas

They have one more chance to right the wrong against a rival, but that’s just one of the reasons why tonight is such a big game.

It will also serve as Fan Appreciation Night for the Dallas Stars fans in attendance. It’s put on every year by the Stars organization and is an opportunity to thank the fans for their support throughout the year.

“I think they’ve been such a huge part of our success at home,” said Stars defenseman Greg Pateryn. “People probably don’t realize it, but we have some of the best fans in the league. They’re there every night no matter what the day is, the crowd is moving the building, and that’s really something you can’t put into words. They’ve supported us all year.”

“The fans are incredible,” added forward Jason Spezza. “It’s disappointing for us as players to be where we are and it’s disappointing for the fans. But the fans here are top notch and they always get behind the team. They are some of the most loyal fans and they are a great crowd to play in front of.”

Stars fans will get a chance to see their team in action for likely the final time on home ice until the start of the 2018-19 regular season. While that may be bittersweet and a painful reminder of all that’s recently happened to the team, it’s all the more reason to make the most out of tonight’s contest.

“I think it’s a game like any other, but we want to finish well at home,” said defenseman Esa Lindell. “And we lost to those guys [Minnesota] on Thursday, so it will be a nice payback for them.”

“Regardless of the situation, everyone has something to play for every night, whether it’s pride or whatever” said Pateryn. ” And even if you don’t have anything, you play for the guy next to you. There’s four games left in the regular season and whatever happens, happens.”

The Dallas Stars won’t be going down without a fight, and that’s a good thing. They deserve the confidence boost and their fans deserve a proper send-off from this tumultuous season.

Mike Modano will also be in the building to do the ceremonial puck drop as part of the Stars’ 25th Anniversary Reunion Nights.

Next: Stars Hopefully Learning Lessons, Though Too Late

As the Stars saw on Thursday night, the Wild are a team still grappling for playoff positioning and don’t give anything easy. Dallas will need a full and deep effort from the entire roster if they want a shot at winning. But with Fan Appreciation Night bringing a loud building behind them, they will have plenty of energy. It’s up to them to capitalize.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. from the American Airlines Center.

Home / Analysis