Dallas Stars: Looking Ahead At Their April 2019 Schedule
With a strong March performance behind them, the Dallas Stars are staring down the final week of their 2018-19 regular season. And after one final test in the week ahead, the Stanley Cup Playoffs will kick off. It’s a month filled with unknowns and cautious excitement.
March 2018 will go down as one of the most frustrating and confusing months in the history of the Dallas Stars franchise.
After navigating the first 10 days of the month with a confident grasp on a playoff spot, the Stars sunk into an eight-game losing skid (0-6-2) that crumpled their confidence and all but dashed their playoff hopes. And though they tried to clean up their mess in the final two weeks of the season, their efforts came too late. On April 1, 2018, they were mathematically eliminated from the race.
And when March 2019 kicked off, the Stars found themselves in an eerily similar position. They were in possession of a playoff spot after a strong end to February, but the race was still crowded in the Western Conference. The month of March would help sort out the traffic as teams either surged ahead or fell behind and would serve as the final verdict on which eight teams qualified for the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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That’s where the Dallas Stars set their focus. March is a make-or-break month in the NHL, and the 2018 Stars broke under the pressure.
But the 2019 Stars didn’t let that happen. The 2019 Stars did everything that the 2018 Stars should have done and surged through a busy March schedule.
Dallas posted a 9-4-1 record in the month of March and improved to 41-31-7 with 89 points on the season. The stretch helped them solidify their playoff odds and put them within one point of securing a playoff spot on the first day of April.
It was a month filled with positives as well as a corresponding up for each of the very few downs that they experienced.
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The Stars started the month off with a commanding 4-1 win over the surging St. Louis Blues to wrap up a 3-1-0 road trip. Following that, the Stars came home and won two of three games during a homestand before heading back out on the road and posting an undefeated record during a two-game swing. Then came a disappointing and frustrating 1-3-1 homestand that knocked the Stars’ odds down by more than 10 percent. But Dallas was quick to respond, finishing the month with a 3-0-1 road trip that put them back in wild card prominence.
Through a revolving door of lineup juggling and players entering and exiting because of injuries, the Stars managed to post an impressive record in the most important month of the year. Perseverance is important for playoff teams, and the Dallas Stars showed just how much it can do for teams stuck in the middle of the playoff race.
And so, the final week of the 2018-19 regular season approaches. The Stars currently sit in the top wild card spot in the Western Conference with three games remaining on the schedule. Their magic number to clinch a playoff spot sits at one, meaning that one point gained by Dallas or lost by the Arizona Coyotes will officially lock the Stars into the playoff picture.
It’s a much more promising look than the beginning of March when Dallas sat one point away from the playoff picture cutoff. But still, there is work to be done and seeding to be arranged. On top of that, the Stars are trying to enter the playoffs on the most impressive and encouraging note possible.
Take a look at the Stars’ April schedule and opponents:
Philadelphia Flyers (1 game: home), Chicago Blackhawks (1 game: away), Minnesota Wild (1 game: home)
Obviously, it’s a short list. But let’s break it down for a moment.
The Stars will kick off their final week of action on Tuesday night with a visit from the Philadelphia Flyers. The Flyers were eliminated from the playoff race a few days ago and have experienced a bit of a falling off after a February surge helped keep them in the middle of the fight. Philadelphia has won just one of its past five games and is 3-7-0 in its past 10 contests.
They’ve struggled on defense all season long and currently own the fourth-highest goals against average in the NHL. Rookie goaltender Carter Hart has put together an impressive campaign in 29 starts this year, but has been unable to save the Flyers from a year of mediocrity.
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Philadelphia is 1-0-0 against the Stars this season, though, after winning 2-1 during the first meeting of the series back in January. This will be Philadelphia’s first and only visit to Dallas this year.
On Friday night, the Dallas Stars will be back on the road as they take on the Chicago Blackhawks. Dallas is 1-2-0 against the Hawks this season, though their lone win came in Chicago in a 4-3 decision one day before the 2019 NHL Trade Deadline. The Hawks, like the Flyers, are on the brink of playoff extinction and would need a miracle to get back into the picture with only one week to go. But, considering their ability to play loose and take risks now that the postseason race doesn’t affect them, they will be a team to watch out for, especially if Dallas still needs a point come Friday night.
Finally, the Stars will wrap up their season against the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. The Wild’s odds of qualifying for the postseason sit at 0.4 percent, putting them among the ranks of Chicago and Philadelphia. Even so, Dallas will want to capitalize in game 82 against a Central division rival and try to enter the postseason on a high note.
That’s two home games, one back-to-back scenario, and two Central division opponents. While none of them are playoff threats, their ability to play a freer style should keep the Stars on their toes.
Assuming the Dallas Stars pick up a point or the Coyotes lose a point during the week ahead, the Stars will then have to focus on the postseason, which begins on Wednesday, April 10.
The final week of the year will help sort out some of the crowdedness still lurking in the Western Conference standings. With the Avalanche just three points behind the Stars, the magic number for Dallas to secure the top wild card spot sits at three. But while dropping to the second wild card spot doesn’t look likely, moving into the top three in the Central division would be a tall task as well. The Winnipeg Jets (96 points), St. Louis Blues (94 points), and Nashville Predators (94 points) all sit stockpiled at the top of the Central, leaving plenty of room for juggling in the final week.
In order for the Stars to break through, they would need to win out while Nashville or St. Louis gained a maximum of one point in the final three games. That’s likely not happening, so Dallas should finish in the top wild card spot to finish the year.
And who will their opponent be in the first round? As crazy as it may sound, it’s still too early to tell.
Ben Bishop, Mats Zuccarello, Brett Ritchie, and Justin Dowling are all expected to return from injuries by the weekend, giving them just enough time to get acclimated before the playoffs start.
The month of April brings playoff action and one of the most exciting times of the year to the world of hockey. For the first time in three seasons, it looks as though the Dallas Stars will get an opportunity to participate in the exhilarating occasion.
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