Dallas Stars Remain in Playoff Hunt with Big Win

For whatever reason, the Dallas Stars have the Capitals’ number. A win against the East’s top seed keeps postseason hopes alive.

Take it all with a grain of salt, but the Dallas Stars have gone and put together their best stretch of hockey. Granted, the 2016-17 season has largely been an unmitigated disaster, so the bar is low. Still, when you capture ten of a possible fourteen points in your last seven games, it warrants mentioning. In a campaign beset by injuries and lackluster play, anything positive becomes especially noteworthy. A 4-2 win at the Verizon Center is no exception.

Now does it mean anything? Who knows? Probably not. When you spend roughly three quarters of your season digging a hole, you seldom leave yourself enough time to climb out of said chasm. And make no mistake, the Dallas Stars mined a shaft halfway to China before their recent turnaround. At the end of the day, they’ve got no one but themselves to blame.

But, a streak is a streak. When you best the top seed in the Eastern Conference in their barn, it’ll turn heads. Throw in the fact that the Capitals’ entered last night’s contest on a fifteen-game home winning streak, which was a franchise record. Lastly, Washington goalie Braden Holtby boasted a league best 1.89 goals against average. Needless to say, the deck seemed decidedly stacked against the visiting Stars.

What the Capitals seemingly failed to realize was that Dallas hadn’t lost in DC since the Bush administration. In fact, the Stars possess a weird synergy against Washington. If there’s a team the Dallas Stars own, it’s the Caps. True to form, Dallas seized the advantage very early on the strength of a Devin Shore goal 1:48 into the game. The tally would hold as the two teams went to the first intermission.

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Radek Faksa and Jason Spezza added goals in the second period to extend the lead to 3-0. While the Stars deserve all the credit for being opportunistic, there was also a measure of apathy in Washington’s game that certainly lead to their misfortune.

Perhaps the sight of the lowly Stars on their schedule allowed a bit of arrogance to seep into their game. Whatever the case, they didn’t appear to wake up until they found themselves getting drilled. A late second period goal pulled them to a 3-1 deficit. Of course, given the Stars’ penchant for blowing leads, the stage was set for a dramatic third period.

On cue, Dallas came out on their heels, seemingly content to nurse their lead.

As usual, this lead to a goal that cut the lead to 3-2. But just as an equalizer seemed an inevitability, Patrick Sharp lofted a puck the length of the ice into an empty net to provide the final margin of victory. In a season where this never happens, the Stars seem to be catching some breaks that have largely eluded them.

Maybe they’re a bit relaxed now. The trading deadline has come and gone. The guys in that locker room can look each other in the eye and know they’re in it together. For what it’s worth, it seems to be working right now. They’ll be well served to keep simplifying their game and accumulating points. There’s no sense in giving up until they’re mathematically eliminated.

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Again, is it likely? No. This season is almost certainly destined to end with the Dallas Stars on the outside looking in. But if they keep up their current pace of play, they can acquit themselves nicely, playoffs or no playoffs.