Dallas Stars Face One Final Test Against Central Division This Season

The Dallas Stars will be back in action tonight and Saturday as they wrap up their 2018-19 regular season play. This weekend serves as one final test against the Central division and one final opportunity to generate momentum for the postseason.

In less than two days, the Dallas Stars will begin their journey in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs. That beginning will include studying up on their first opponent (which has yet to be decided), preparing to hit the road, and a focus on starting the first round on a positive note.

But the focus isn’t there just yet. That’s because two games still separate the Stars from the end of the 2018-19 regular season. And though they are against non-playoff teams, each one still serves as an important step in their path to the playoffs.

The Stars (42-31-7) will start off the final stretch of their 2018-19 campaign on Friday night with a visit to the Chicago Blackhawks (35-33-12) at the United Center. Following that, they will trek back home for a Saturday night matchup against the Minnesota Wild on Fan Appreciation Night as the season officially comes to a close.

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There’s a lot still in play for Dallas. For one, they can secure the top wild card spot in the Western Conference by picking up one of the final four points left on the table.

With the Colorado Avalanche sitting one point back of the Stars with a game out of hand, one point will lock the Stars into the top wild card seed and guarantee them a berth in the Central division bracket of the Western Conference playoff picture.

In addition, the Stars are still in a tight race for the Jennings Trophy, which is awarded annually to the goaltender(s) on the team that allows the fewest goals against in the regular season. Ben Bishop and Anton Khudobin (Dallas Stars) are currently tied with Robin Lehner and Thomas Greiss (New York Islanders) at 196 goals allowed. The Islanders only have one game to go in their regular season schedule, which means the pressure is on for the Stars with two contests remaining.

And finally, it’s a chance for the Stars to further propel themselves into the playoffs with some useful momentum.

After going 3-0-1 on a road trip last week and starting this week off with a 6-2 trouncing of the Philadelphia Flyers that helped them secure a playoff berth, Dallas could benefit from building on that impressive streak in the final weekend.

They start things off on Friday night against a Blackhawks team that was eliminated from the playoff race on Tuesday. Though they have a strong offensive attack, their defense, goaltending, and penalty kill have been lacking for much of the 2018-19 season and have forced them to fight an uphill battle. They’ve been through a coaching change and plenty of trades this season and will now aim to simply close their season on a high note.

It should provide a good test for a Stars team that is 1-2-0 against Chicago this season. In addition, they will also be missing a handful of typical starters from the lineup. According to head coach Jim Montgomery at Friday’s morning skate, here’s how the Dallas attack will look tonight:

Jason Dickinson – Tyler Seguin – Alexander Radulov

Mattias Janmark – Radek Faksa – Blake Comeau

Roope Hintz – Justin Dowling – Tyler Pitlick

Joel L’Esperance – Jason Spezza – Brett Ritchie

Esa Lindell – John Klingberg

Miro Heiskanen – Ben Lovejoy

Jamie Oleksiak – Taylor Fedun

Anton Khudobin

Though the Stars have only defeated the Blackhawks once this season, their lone win actually came in Chicago back on Feb. 24. Faksa, Zuccarello, and Spezza all scored a goal, while Radulov finished with a goal and an assist and Khudobin stopped 44/47 to claim the 4-3 win. Tonight, Dallas will take the next step in the Jennings Trophy race and look to keep their five-game points streak alive as they battle a Central division foe without Jamie Benn, Mats Zuccarello, Roman Polak, or Andrew Cogliano in the lineup.