Dallas Stars still in good shape despite their recent wobble

The Dallas Stars lost two in a row over the weekend. But even with this mini skid, they’re still in the catbird seat in the playoff race.

Things have been mostly coming up aces for the Dallas Stars lately. Between February 24th and March 14th, they won seven of nine games and really began to look like the team head coach Jim Montgomery envisioned when the season began. They even surged–albeit briefly–into third place in the NHL’s Central Division. All things being relative, they’d given themselves a little bit of breathing room in a very tight playoff race in the Western Conference.

Ironically enough, the luck appears to have dwindled a bit on St. Patrick’s Day weekend. On Friday, on their third game in four nights, Dallas fell to the Vegas Golden Knights, 2-1. Then last night, the Stars battled back valiantly versus the Vancouver Canucks to tie the game in regulation. Alas, their efforts ultimately came up short when Vancouver won in a shootout.

Now normally, two straight losses would spell doom and gloom for the Dallas Stars. There have been plenty of occasions this season where even a small losing streak meant the difference between Dallas being on the very fringes of the playoff picture and being out of it altogether. Couple that with the baggage the fan base carries around, and one’s social media feeds can vacillate between sky-is-falling hysteria one day and cautious optimism the next.

But for now, that’s not necessarily the case. For as good as the Stars have been lately, they’ve also been getting some help from the teams in the race with them. Case in point: both Minnesota and St. Louis lost yesterday, thereby keeping pace with Dallas. Also, the Arizona Coyotes–currently holding the second wild card spot in the Western Conference–hold the unenviable task of playing the NHL-leading Tampa Bay Lightning later tonight. In other words, if there ever was a good time to lose two in a row, this was it.

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The other item of importance that could turn into a rather large elephant in the room is the lower body injury goalie Ben Bishop sustained in a March 14th win versus the Minnesota Wild. In true tragicomic 2018-19 Stars’ fashion, it occurred when Bishop had just set the franchise mark for scoreless hockey at 230:53. At the time, at least one pundit was calling it the biggest win of the season. And who could argue? Dallas had just dismantled a desperate team in their own barn. Moreover, that win was the Stars’ sixth in seven games. But even in light of all that, one couldn’t help but invoke the ghost of Bishop’s past injuries.

The fortunate thing the Stars have working in their favor this time around is a competent back up. In fact, alternate goaltender Anton Khudobin has chipped in with clutch performances of his own when Bishop’s been injured or has needed a break. True to form, Khudobin was solid in goal during this two-game losing streak. He hasn’t been the reason the Stars fell in either game. Also, if there is a silver lining to be taken from Sunday night’s loss, it’s that Dallas was able to scratch out a point at a time when they’re all so important. Sure, it’s a loss, but there’s something to be said for “losing the right way” in the NHL.

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Of course, the news we all want to hear is that Ben Bishop’s absence is brief and that the Dallas Stars’ current misfortunes are only temporary. Unlike last year at this time, in which they were in the midst of an eight-game losing streak that summarily dumped them from the playoffs, they’ve built themselves enough a cushion to withstand a small stumble. What they can’t have this year is a full-blown collapse.

Published on 03/18/2019 at 13:00 PM
Last updated at 03/18/2019 at 09:13 AM

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