It was another successful night for the Dallas Stars as they inched closer to a playoff spot. And though it wasn’t the prettiest, they got it done. The resilience shown further proves that this team is no longer focused solely on just getting into the postseason.
There’s a chance that the Dallas Stars could have a spot in the Stanley Cup Playoffs locked up by Saturday night. And honestly, after they week they’ve put together, they deserve it.
Thursday night served as yet another entertaining and intriguing cog in the Stars’ push to the postseason. Dallas was in Edmonton to take on a struggling Oilers team that was on the brink of playoff extinction and was looking for two big points to further their own playoff cause.
The Stars had already wrapped up the first half of a critical four-game road trip and did so on a high note. After struggling through an important homestand and pushing their playoff hopes below 90 percent, the Stars started up a critical four-game road trip in Winnipeg. They secured an impressive 5-2 win over the Jets and followed it up two days later with a defensive 2-1 victory over the Calgary Flames.
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The adversity faced in Wednesday’s win translated into Thursday night as the Stars wrapped up a back-to-back against the Oilers. And through the majority of the game, it didn’t look like Dallas would be able to get it done.
The Stars fell behind early when Leon Draisaitl scored less than five minutes into the first period. Meanwhile, the Dallas offense struggled to get in gear. They posted just six shots on net in the first period and fell victim to Edmonton’s risky and heavy offensive assault.
The second period was much of the same. Connor McDavid scored 68 seconds into the middle frame to increase the lead to 2-0. The Oilers looked to be completely in charge of the game and set the tempo while the Stars simply tried to catch up.
Alexander Radulov broke the scoring drought a few minutes later on a power play goal that was set up by a brilliant pass from Tyler Seguin. The goal cut the lead in half, but there was still work to be done. Through 40 minutes, the Oilers owned a 2-1 lead, 31-12 shot advantage, and looked as though they would still decide who would win the game. On the other hand, the Stars looked as though their tank was empty and they were struggling to stay afloat.
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It was a story that was all too relevant in the Dallas Stars’ 2018-19 campaign. Their offense couldn’t get rolling, their defense struggled to keep the puck out of their end, and a struggling team poured it on while Anton Khudobin fought to keep the Stars afloat with a brilliant and busy performance.
The third period rolled around and it was much of the same: a defensive struggle with little offensive pressure. But after Miro Heiskanen scored his 12th goal on an impressive wrist shot around the midway point of the third, the score was knotted at 2-2. Dallas found a way to stay even in the rest of the game and push to overtime. It was an important point gained in a gritty comeback effort.
And if the Stars had given up a goal in overtime like they did against Edmonton in late November, it would’ve been okay. If they had even given up a goal in the first few seconds, that would have been understandable. Clawing back to even and gaining a big point in a game where they were outdone was important enough.
But they didn’t stop. The Dallas Stars kept pushing. They kept winning battles. They dug their heels in and kept the fight going. Khudobin made a few strong stops and the game pushed to the shootout. And though the Stars had lost their first shootout of the 2018-19 season 11 days prior, they secured the second point with a Jamie Benn goal in the fifth round.
And just like that, the Stars won in gritty comeback fashion, kept their undefeated streak alive on the current road trip, and won a seventh consecutive game away from home. In the second night of a back-to-back and going up against a dangerous opponent, Dallas pulled through even after starting slow.
“We didn’t have a good first period and Dobby kept us in it,” said Stars coach Jim Montgomery. “After that, we got better every period.”
That win says a lot about this Dallas Stars team. Sure, it’s a win that pushed them closer to securing a playoff spot. Sure, it was an expected win against a team in the lower part of the NHL standings.
But the way the Stars did it was impressive. They clawed back from a multi-goal deficit in an aggressive fashion, made sure they scrapped a point out of it, and then finished it up in the shootout for another big point.
“It’s huge,” said captain Jamie Benn after the game. “Obviously, points are crucial right now. And with a lot of teams playing great behind us and in front of us, it’s huge to get two points here tonight.”
It just goes to show that this Dallas Stars team is no longer focused on simply “making” the playoffs; that’s practically a given at 99.9 percent. Instead of just fighting to qualify, the Stars are now focused on entering the postseason on the best foot possible.
"“I think it’s the will inside that locker room and those players wanting to not only make the playoffs, but go in there playing the right way.” – Jim Montgomery"
The turnaround between the end of the regular season and the beginning of the playoffs in the NHL is less than three days. There’s a certain consistent intensity required from teams if they want to keep their drive alive once game one rolls around.
Right now, the Stars are doing what they can to keep that drive going. They aren’t just avoiding a late-season losing skid: they’re avoiding losing altogether. Only four games separate them from the end of the regular season. The goal is to finish each one of those more dominantly than the last and boost morale and confidence going into round one. The Stars are doing that right now and it’s paying off in a big way.
And so, the Dallas Stars will take Friday off after playing three games in four days. They will be back in action on Saturday night against the Vancouver Canucks as they look to wrap up an already strong trip on an undefeated note. Following that, there’s just one week left.
With the way the Stars are playing right now, it looks as though they’re already geared up for game one. All they have to do now is keep it up.