There’s only 33 games separating the Dallas Stars from the beginning of the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. And if they are going to make a push and grab a spot in the postseason, it all begins with starting on a strong note.
The Dallas Stars will get back to regular season action tonight when they welcome the Buffalo Sabres to the American Airlines Center. But it won’t be a typical non-conference matchup for the team.
Tonight’s game will mark the Stars’ first competition since Jan. 19 when they defeated the Winnipeg Jets. After securing an impressive victory, Dallas dove headfirst into an extended break. That included five days off for the CBA-mandated break and another four days for the NHL All-Star Break.
Ten days off can do a lot for a hockey team. For one, it can provide a chance to breathe, rest, and reset after a long and tough stretch through the first few months of the year. It can also provide an opportunity to watch how the rest of the league unfolds and analyze the teams sitting near them in the playoff race.
“I think everyone is feeling pretty good,” Tyler Pitlick said prior to the break, “but we have to get that rest and be healthy and ready to go because once that break is over, it’s crunch time. So, we have to be ready to go.”
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“You kind of settle in and get ready for the grind that this next half is really going to be,” added Jason Dickinson. “Right now, we’re in a playoff spot, but we want to keep climbing or stay in where we are.”
But once a team exits the break, it’s an entirely different story. Spending over one week away from the rink can cause players to fall out-of-sync or even a step behind their regular compete level. That’s why the practices leading up to the first game back are so important.
“I think it can be hard to jump right in after a long break there,” Pitlick said, “but we’ve got three practices before so I think we should be okay.”
“I think everybody is going to be feeling it,” said Dickinson. “They’re going to be trying to find their game the first day. Luckily, we have a few days of practice beforehand to get back a little bit. But, it’s never gonna be where you’re absolutely in a game flow. It’s a completely different grind. You have to get in a couple of games and a couple of reps in order to feel that flow.”
The Dallas Stars have spent the past three days practicing in preparation for this first week back in action. It includes three games in four days against teams either sitting in a playoff spot or challenging for a spot. Tonight, it’s the Buffalo Sabres, who won their first game back from break last night against the Columbus Blue Jackets. On Friday night, the Stars will wrap up a six-game homestand against the Minnesota Wild. And on Saturday, Dallas will travel to Nashville to take on the Predators.
It’s a challenging road with many potential pitfalls. But for the Stars, it’s a road that must be navigated with precision and maximum effort.
This is crunch time for the Dallas Stars. It’s crunch time for a team that was in the same position at this point in the 2017-18 season but couldn’t get the job done and punch their ticket to the playoffs. It’s crunch time for a team that is near the playoff wall but has the talent to push themselves past game 82. And with only nine weeks of action remaining, there isn’t time to slowly progress back up to speed; there needs to be an immediate jump back to the grind.
That comes with practice from the past three days. It also comes with focusing on what went right in their last game and using those elements moving forward. And finally, it involves management staying aggressive as the trade deadline approaches and building the best possible roster to compete.
The final 33 games of the 2018-19 regular season will tell a lot about not only where the Dallas Stars currently are, but where they could be going as well. It’s a sprint to the finish that will involve plenty of challenges and struggles. But that’s where the good teams separate themselves from the not-so-good teams.
It all starts tonight against a 25-18-6 Buffalo Sabres club with their sights set on reclaiming a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. If the Stars win, it sets them up for a pivotal Friday night matchup against the Minnesota Wild with only one point separating the teams in the Central division standings. Each game seems to mean a little bit more as the season begins to wind down, and the Stars’ next handful of games could determine how their route in the playoff race looks. Will it be a “hold the line” ordeal or will it become an “uphill battle?”
That’s what these next handful of games will help decide.
It’s crunch time in Dallas. Will this 2018-19 Dallas Stars team be able to answer the bell?