Dallas Stars Eliminated From 2018 Stanley Cup Playoff Race

It’s official. After the Anaheim Ducks’ win in overtime on Sunday, the Dallas Stars were mathematically eliminated from the playoff race. It’s been coming for a while, but the arrival of it still brings pain.

Monday is never a fun day in the typical work week. But this Monday is not a fun one, specifically for the Dallas Stars.

On Sunday night, the Anaheim Ducks rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the third period to send their game against the Colorado Avalanche to overtime. A few moments into overtime, the Ducks sealed the deal with a game-winning goal.

The win gave Anaheim 95 points on the season and officially put them out of the Stars’ reach in the standings. But it also put Dallas in a compromised position that they won’t be able to get out of. In other words, the Dallas Stars were officially eliminated from the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoff race.

The Stars currently sit at the 88 point mark and can cap out at 94 points this season if they win out. Considering Colorado and St. Louis, who each have 93 points, are ahead of Dallas in the race and have a head-to-head matchup scheduled for the end of the year, one of them will hit at least 95 points and gain the final spot.

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Now, no one can say that they didn’t see this coming. After putting together a disastrous and odds-defying collapse throughout the month of March, the writing was on the wall. The Dallas Stars, once considered a playoff lock and a challenger for a deep playoff run, crashed throughout the final 20 games and took a turn for the worst.

It all started with a 6-0 loss at home to the Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 11. Some may have a different version of the story, but this loss came on the heels of a five-game win streak for Dallas and really derailed the entire team. Since then, the Stars have put together a tumultuous 7-12-4 record. That included a winless six-game road trip and an 0-6-2 stretch.

Nothing seemed to go right for the Dallas Stars over that stretch, either. Their offense went completely stale, with only the top line of Jamie Benn, Tyler Seguin, and Alexander Radulov seeming to have any sort of pressure to offer. Depth scoring disappeared, the special teams units took a dip, and the defense and goaltending couldn’t carry the extra load.

Starting goaltender Ben Bishop went down with an injury and only played in three full games for the Stars in March. Kari Lehtonen carried the load for the remainder of the month and played well, but had no offensive support to help him out.

The Stars simply couldn’t keep their drive alive in the most important stretch of the season. And while they faltered and struggled to win on a consistent basis, the rest of the West stayed in the race. Things were too tight to hit a bump in this year’s postseason sprint.

But the Dallas Stars really have no one to blame but themselves at this point. They slipped while the rets of the NHL hit the gas. It still doesn’t seem altogether real that things actually took such a sharp turn for the worst. Yet, here they are.

Mathematics always has the last laugh with non-playoff teams, and it’s chuckling yet again. This will mark the eighth time in the past ten seasons that the Stars fail to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs. It will also be the third time in the past four seasons.

The Stars have three more games remaining in their regular season schedule to try and close out on a high note. It is anyone’s guess how they will finish out, but their faint playoff hopes will no longer be a part of the mix.

Next: Stars Player Power Rankings For Month of March

Whether you were waiting for this day to happen or still held onto hope, one thing is certain: this is  one way to spoil your Monday.