Can the Dallas Stars ride their formula to the playoffs?

As encouraging as their recent six-game point streak was, the Dallas Stars remain in a fight for a playoff spot. Will they be able to hold on?

When you’ve made a habit of living on the periphery of the NHL playoff picture, there typically isn’t dull moment. Take the Dallas Stars for instance. Recent history hasn’t been kind to this franchise. Two playoff berths in the last ten seasons tells the story pretty plainly. Take last year’s nosedive into account and you have a pretty accurate picture of what it’s like to be a fan of this organization.

So forgive us if we’re a little skittish. We’re not exactly sure how to handle a bit of success. Of course, the team’s recent six-game point streak–buoyed by five consecutive wins, no less–was extremely encouraging. Not only did it vault the Stars into the top three of the Central Division, but it also put some space between them and the teams on the Western Conference’s playoff bubble.

But you can’t win them all. And sure enough, after a stinging overtime loss on Thursday to the Nashville Predators and a regulation loss on Saturday to the Arizona Coyotes, the Dallas Stars still sit in third in the Central Division, but only two points above Minnesota and red-hot St. Louis for the final playoff spots in the conference.

The timing couldn’t really be worse, either, with Dallas in the midst of a five-game road trip. Anyone who follows this team knows they haven’t had a great season on the road. Yet here they are with a chance to prove their doubters wrong. It’s hard to say that a three-game, out-of-conference gauntlet could make or break their year, but getting at least four of the next possible six points would go to great lengths to firm up their position.

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Furthermore, since the Stars are who they are, it makes sense to ask: can they do what they’ve been doing and make the playoffs? Well, the short answer is yes. I’ve written in this space before that their division is in somewhat of a down year, and that is still definitely the case. In fact, if form holds, Dallas will hold steady at third in the Central, thus securing them an automatic playoff bid. This, despite being 29th of 31 teams in goals scored. What’s really helping the Stars this year is their defense, as evidenced by their number two ranking in goals against in the entire NHL. It remains to be seen how far this defense can take them, though.

It’s almost a shame that they’re putting up such historical defensive numbers. Just a few seasons ago, the Stars were known as a team that had to outscore their problems. They almost made it to the Western Conference finals in doing so. But when the scoring fell off in subsequent seasons, the wins did as well. Now they’re really hard to score against, but they have an equally tough time putting pucks in net on most nights. When they’re able to buck that trend, they’re really hard to beat. The hard part is finding that offensive consistency that would put them up there with the Winnipegs and Nashvilles of the world. If they ever find that balance, the sky’s the limit for this team.

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In the meantime, don’t be surprised if or when the Stars add a forward to bolster their scoring punch prior to the trade deadline. The front office is definitely in win-now mode and will almost certainly not stand pat. It’s plainly obvious that they want to make the playoffs now despite having a first-year head coach behind the bench. This has been a highly volatile season by Stars’ standards, and the pressure to put a postseason contender on the ice is the highest it’s been in recent memory. If you’re a fan of this team, this is a positive development.

Published on 02/11/2019 at 12:01 PM
Last updated at 02/11/2019 at 08:39 AM

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