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Dallas Stars: Divisional Games Will Define Second Half Of Season

By Cole Mentzel

Dec 19, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars center Jason Spezza (90) is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a goal against the Montreal Canadiens during the first period at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 19, 2015; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Stars center Jason Spezza (90) is congratulated by his teammates after scoring a goal against the Montreal Canadiens during the first period at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Dallas Stars will have to play great against the Central Division in order to make the second half of their season as good as the first.

One of the best times of the NHL season has come as All-Star weekend is now upon us. With the exception of Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, who will both be in Nashville for the game itself, the Stars have begun to turn their focus on finishing the season strong.

However, before working on this next stretch, the Stars are going to use a much-needed break to their advantage. After their 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames, Jason Spezza offered a great quote on the time off:

"“Breaks can be helpful. It can be tough coming out of breaks, but the schedule in February and March is pretty much just games, and we’re not going to have a lot of practice time.”"

Since the start of 2016, the Stars have only won three games, so the break is going to play into their important time of rest and refueling.

The challenges are going to come immediately after play resumes as they will play their first five games against the Jets, Avalanche, Wild and Blackhawks (twice). That slate of games is going to set the tone for the rest of the season and will most likely determine if they will be able to re-take the division lead or if they will be set back even farther in the standings.

They will play 9 out of 14 games against divisional teams in the month of February and after that they will have seven more divisional games to close out the season.

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Through the All-Star break, the Stars are 8-4-1 in divisional games. A few notable wins came in the form of 4-0 shutout against the Chicago Blackhawks and 3-0 shutout against the St. Louis Blues. They also had three comeback wins against the Minnesota Wild.

The journey will certainly not be easy as any and every Central Division team is a tough team to beat. The Stars will have to play the Blackhawks on four separate occasions in February and March, plus they will get two more opportunities to beat the Colorado Avalanche, a team that they haven’t beat in over two years. They will also have the chance to end their season on a high note as the Avalanche will return to Dallas along with the Nashville Predators.

In an article from Mike Heika of The Dallas Morning News, head coach Lindy Ruff spoke on how difficult it can get:

"“You realize how hard this league is, and how hard every play is.  Some of this adversity tells you a lot about players, and you get to evaluate under the gun.”"

The bottom line is that the Stars are going to play over half of their remaining games against the Central Division, at least one more against each member, and that is a task that certainly cannot be taken lightly.

Next: Recent Adversity A Blessing In Disguise For Stars

Though there will certainly be a fair share of elite East teams on the schedule for February, March and April, the Stars are going to have to take care of business against Central Division opponents to ensure success.

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