The Dallas Stars' 3-0 win over Winnipeg on Thursday didn't do much to change the victory green club's Stanley Cup Playoffs positioning. The Stars are all but locked into the second seed from the Central Division.
As such, the victory might not appear to yield much in the way of spoils. But look a little deeper, and it seems like the kind of game that snapped Dallas' cold streak.
The Stars entered the game with just two wins in their last nine games, results that moved them from the neck of first-place Colorado, a position Dallas was always a long shot for, anyway. More important than the win itself was the way the Stars achieved it. Just about everything that went awry during the cold streak turned 180 degrees. Dallas looked like the team that just three weeks ago was the hottest in the NHL.
It wasn't that just about everything went right. It was Dallas that made things go right, dominating every facet against a team that still has its eyes on sneaking into the postseason.
For Hyry and Erne, tonight is the first mulitpoint game this season for both players.
— Savannah Huemoeller (@sportssavvyy) April 3, 2026
"I liked our response from this morning, a little bit of nipping at the heels," Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said after the game. "Like, I said to you guys this morning, our game wasn't good enough in a lot of areas. ... So I liked the response. You guys could all see it. It was a great response."
The Stars' stars put themselves in the middle of the offensive action. Role players did, too. The NHL's best power play got on the board. Players threw their bodies around to the tune of out-hitting the Jets, 20-14. Jamie Benn looked young again in his fight against Adam Lowry. Defensively, the Stars limited Winnipeg to just 22 shots with Jake Oettinger stopping them all.
And all this as a team still missing its first-line center in Roope Hintz and rolling journeyman Adam Erne alongside should-be AHLer Arttu Hyry, with checking-line regular Radek Faksa also out. Oh, and Tyler Myers, who the Stars picked up at the trade deadline, didn't play again, either.
All these are reasons Stars fans shouldn't have been worried even during the stretch in the first place. But now that they've dispatched the Jets via shutout, it's easier to chalk it up to a simple rough patch. Of course, Colorado and Minnesota come in two of the next three games. Wins there, and uh-oh, Dallas is rocking and ready for the postseason.
But even if those games result in losses, no fear. We're still talking about a team that's made three straight Western Conference finals and remains a top-five team in the NHL, anyway.