If legendary actor/director Clint Eastwood were a hockey fan, he'd have found the Dallas Stars' game against Calgary on Tuesday night awfully familiar.
A hideous first period saw the Stars shoot the puck on net. A bad second period saw the Stars give up two goals and enter the third, where they gave up another goal within a minute, trailing. Finally, a good final frame saw Wyatt Johnston and Jason Robertson force overtime with a goal early and a goal late.
Most importantly, Johnston added the game-winner in overtime - how else - via the power play, capping a 4-3 Stars comeback over the Flames.
To say Dallas is headed toward the playoffs playing less-than-ideal hockey is a bit of an understatement. By no means are the Stars playing miserably. They're just miserably bland. Nothing seems terribly aggressive on either end of the ice. They often look like a team going through the motions, entering the game against the Flames with just two wins in their last nine games.
And while that might sound miserable, consider four of those seven losses came by just one goal. Of course, that isn't exactly a positive sign, either, for a team heading to the postseason, where grit-and-grind, one-goal games are more the standard than an aberration.
Shout out to Miro for hustling and keeping that play alive. Such a huge 2 points with the Wild also winning tonight. With the Stars having a huge advantage in regulation wins, no matter the outcome on Thursday, the Stars maintain home ice in the first round. #TexasHockey
— x - Hockey Tonk (@_HockeyTonk) April 8, 2026
The biggest bummer of Tuesday's result is that Dallas is just four points ahead of Minnesota in the Central Division standings. The Wild have five games remaining, and the Stars just four. Incidentally, the two meet on Thursday at American Airlines Center. A Dallas win would provide a measure of breathing room over the season's final week, while a Wild win would force the Stars' hand, almost certainly ensuring Dallas has to win two of its final three to have a shot at holding on to the No. 2-seed in the Central.
The good news is the Stars are still short-handed. No, it isn't good news right now. But the fact that Dallas is holding off - for now - the Wild for that second spot in the division without top-line center Roope Hintz, checking line center Radek Faksa, middle-six forward Sam Steel, and both the defenseman, Tyler Myers, and winger, Michael Bunting, the team picked up at the trade deadline, is impressive. Even if the results on a game-by-game basis haven't been.
Dallas should get them all back at some point in the first round, if not sooner, except for Bunting, whose timetable for a return is unclear. For now, the Stars just need to hold on. They did it on Tuesday, and that was enough.