{"id":25898,"date":"2018-03-23T13:28:02","date_gmt":"2018-03-23T17:28:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=25898"},"modified":"2018-03-23T13:28:02","modified_gmt":"2018-03-23T17:28:02","slug":"the-dallas-stars-playoff-window","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2018\/03\/23\/the-dallas-stars-playoff-window\/","title":{"rendered":"The Dallas Stars Playoff Window is Closing Quickly"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/stars\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dallas Stars<\/a> currently hold a record of 38-28-8 and sit in sixth place in the Central Division. They have 84 points \u2013 four less than the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/ducks\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Anaheim Ducks<\/a> (second Wild Card slot) and also four less than the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/avalanche\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Colorado Avalanche<\/a> (first Wild Card slot). As of right now, the Stars are out of the 2018 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and with only eight games left to play, their window is closing \u2013 and it&#8217;s closing fast.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Kings beat the Avalanche 7-1 and move into third spot in the Pacific Division. Ducks drop to the second wild-card spot, so the Stars are now four points out of the final playoff spot with eight games to go. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SRdIvPDduP\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/SRdIvPDduP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mark Stepneski (@StarsInsideEdge) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StarsInsideEdge\/status\/977027647359324162?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 23, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>The Dallas Stars Playoff Window is Closing Quickly<\/h2>\n<p>The Stars are coming off of a disastrous road trip, one that resulted in them going 0-4-2 and dropping out of a playoff spot. They sit right behind the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/blues\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">St. Louis Blues<\/a> (85 points), who are also fighting for a spot in the postseason. The Stars play Friday night at home against the hot <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/nhl-teams\/bruins\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Boston Bruins<\/a> in what is a must-win game, so to say. The Stars need to defeat the Bruins at home in order to gain some momentum, and then from there, win an additional three-to-four games out of the remaining seven. Along with this, they would need some luck from the hockey gods in order for them to secure that playoff spot and pass the Blues and Ducks.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Western Conference Playoff Race (Games Ending 3\/22) <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/7flKYIwrQW\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/7flKYIwrQW<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Damian Echevarrieta (@Ech28) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Ech28\/status\/977046209406881792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 23, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>It is a tight race, with five teams battling it out for those coveted Wild Card slots, but the Stars need to answer the call and avoid not making the postseason for a second season in a row.<\/p>\n<h2>Stars Have an Optimistic Approach to the Race<\/h2>\n<div class=\"wysiwyg article-content article-content--text js-text-block tertia-text--long\">\n<p>&#8220;We had such great energy in the last four games and such great efforts throughout the hockey club, you feel like throughout the process that it is going to turn your way,&#8221; head coach <strong>Ken Hitchcock<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/sportsday.dallasnews.com\/dallas-stars\/stars\/2018\/03\/22\/dallas-stars-chance-get-back-playoff-race-simple\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told SportsDay Dallas<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;What changes is the time of year.\u00a0If we were playing like this and it was the middle of the season, we&#8217;d be very happy knowing that the wheel is going to turn, because it does,&#8221; Hitchcock added. &#8220;But now, with the shortness of what is left in the season, it kind of magnifies everything. You don&#8217;t want to take away the energy, enthusiasm and hard play that is going on right now, that has to be rewarded. But at the end of the day, we know we need wins.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Forward <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/r\/radulal01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Alexander Radulov<\/a><\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhl.com\/stars\/news\/dallas-stars-boston-bruins-game-preview\/c-297212164\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">told NHL.com<\/a>&#8211; &#8220;We&#8217;re in a tough spot, and those games at home are going to be huge.\u00a0We need those points. We&#8217;re still in the battle, and there&#8217;s still a lot of hockey left.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Here is a look at the Stars next eight games and the opponents they are facing:<\/p>\n<table class=\"in-enhanced-table__scroll mtn\" border=\"0\" width=\"100%\" cellspacing=\"0\" cellpadding=\"0\">\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"bottom\"><b>Date<\/b><\/td>\n<td valign=\"bottom\"><b>Opponent<\/b><\/td>\n<td valign=\"bottom\"><b>In hunt?<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>March 23<\/td>\n<td>Bruins<\/td>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>March 25<\/td>\n<td>Canucks<\/td>\n<td>No<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>March 27<\/td>\n<td>Flyers<\/td>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>March 29<\/td>\n<td>at Wild<\/td>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>March 31<\/td>\n<td>Wild<\/td>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>April 3<\/td>\n<td>at Sharks<\/td>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>April 6<\/td>\n<td>at Ducks<\/td>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>April 7<\/td>\n<td>at Kings<\/td>\n<td>Yes<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Chart Via SportsDay Dallas News (<a href=\"https:\/\/sportsday.dallasnews.com\/dallas-stars\/stars\/2018\/03\/22\/dallas-stars-chance-get-back-playoff-race-simple\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Article Link Here<\/a>)<\/p>\n<h2>Injury Updates<\/h2>\n<p>The Stars have been mixing up their lines due to some unfortunate injuries that have been plaguing the team. Going into Friday&#8217;s game against the Bruins, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/m\/methoma01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marc Methot<\/a><\/strong> (hand) is questionable and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/spezzja01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jason Spezza<\/a><\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonhockey.com\/2018\/03\/22\/dallas-stars-spezza-out-two-more-weeks\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(back)<\/a>, <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/bishobe01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ben Bishop<\/a><\/strong> (knee), and <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/h\/hanzama01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Martin Hanzal<\/a><\/strong> (back) are all out. <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/l\/lehtoka01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kari Lehtonen<\/a><\/strong> will be the starter in net for the Stars Friday night. Below is the Stars lines and pairings at Friday&#8217;s morning skate. If Methot is not ready for game time, expect <strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/h\/honkaju01.html?utm_campaign=Linker&amp;utm_source=direct&amp;utm_medium=linker-\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Julius Honka<\/a><\/strong> to step in in his place.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Stars this morning:<\/p>\n<p>Benn-Seguin-Ritchie<br \/>Janmark-Faksa-Radulov<br \/>Roussel-Shore-Pitlick<br \/>Elie-Dickinson-McKenzie<\/p>\n<p>Lindell-Klingberg<br \/>Hamhuis-Pateryn<br \/>Methot-Johns<\/p>\n<p>Honka,Heatherington and Smith the extras<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mark Stepneski (@StarsInsideEdge) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StarsInsideEdge\/status\/977206647297904640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 23, 2018<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Now or Never<\/h2>\n<p>Eight games are all that remain for the Dallas Stars. These eight games decide if they spend another postseason watching other teams compete, or if they are the ones competing. The path is simple- win Friday night against the Bruins, gain some confidence, and go into the next seven games with a chip on their shoulder. The clock is ticking and the Stars have the weapons they need. Now it&#8217;s time to go all in and climb into a playoff spot.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Main Image Credit:<\/p>\n<div class=\"getty embed image\" style=\"background-color: #fff; display: inline-block; font-family: Roboto,sans-serif; color: #a7a7a7; font-size: 11px; width: 100%; max-width: 594px;\">\n<div style=\"padding: 0; margin: 0; text-align: left;\"><a style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/934453988\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"overflow: hidden; position: relative; height: 0; padding: 70.03367% 0 0 0; width: 100%;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"display: inline-block; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; margin: 0;\" src=\"\/\/embed.gettyimages.com\/embed\/934453988?et=4ZmIClWJQxduXoTScUJ-uA&amp;tld=com&amp;sig=bprf5DW6fp2kMSKkqffTfYERZIFyOV4KHc5f8-JCWFo=&amp;caption=true&amp;ver=1\" width=\"594\" height=\"416\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Dallas Stars currently hold a record of 38-28-8 and sit in sixth place in the Central Division. They have 84 points \u2013 four less than the Anaheim Ducks (second Wild Card slot) and also four less than the Colorado Avalanche (first Wild Card slot). As of right now, the Stars are out of the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1187,"featured_media":25913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"1521813600","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"Stars playoff window closing","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[34,29],"tags":[102,955,1109,947],"class_list":["post-25898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-stars","tag-dallas-stars","tag-nhl-news","tag-stanley-cup-playoffs","tag-western-conference"],"modified_by":"Tyger Allen, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1187"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}