Dallas Stars Continue To Slump, Burying Hopes Of Comeback
Following a third straight loss, the Dallas Stars continue to slip further and further down the playoff ladder. Everything seems to be working against them and they are quickly running out of daylight.
Anger has many ways of making itself known through humans. Sometimes it is let out in the form of obscene words and cursing. Sometimes it shows through physical aggression, such as punching or kicking a wall. Or it may even come out as a simple feeling of disappointment.
And sometimes anger gives way to its ugly cousin, frustration. On certain occasions, these two can intertwine and create quite the nasty duo.
At this point in the 2017 season, Dallas Stars fans have probably felt one or both of these emotions on a consistent basis. Chances are that both are currently ravaging the minds of the Stars faithful right now.
On Tuesday night, the Dallas Stars fell 3-1 to the Toronto Maple Leafs on the road. Dallas is currently stuck in a playoff push and are fighting for their lives, but things are fading fast. The loss marked the Stars’ third straight, and they have quickly dropped from four points out of the final playoff spot to seven points out in a matter of four days.
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This is the Stars’ first three-game regulation losing streak of the season. So you could argue that the Dallas Stars are playing some of their worst hockey in the part of the season where their play carries the most weight.
The last time the Dallas Stars were in a playoff spot was on December 29, 2016 after a 4-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche. That also seems to be the last time anyone could realistically see the Stars in a playoff spot.
Since then, the Stars have posted a record of 5-9-3 and have secured 13 of a possible 34 points. That kind of record promises a one-way ticket to an early offseason.
The crazy thing is that you could argue that the Stars are playing at a higher level and seem more determined over the past three weeks or so. But their record in that span is 2-3-1.
So there is the anger. The frustration comes in when you look at the standings and the teams around Dallas.
In order for the Dallas Stars to get back in a playoff spot, two things need to happen: they need to win and the teams around them need to lose. They only have control over one of those aspects. The sad part is, they can’t seem to get a grip on the part they can control while the other part seems to be taking care of itself. Here is a look at the Western Conference standings as of Wednesday morning:
WC1. St. Louis Blues 54 GP 59 PTS
WC2. Calgary Flames 56 GP 59 PTS
9. Los Angeles Kings 54 GP 58 PTS
10. Winnipeg Jets 56 GP 54 PTS
11. Vancouver Canucks 53 GP 52 PTS
12. Dallas Stars 54 GP 52 PTS
While the Stars have been losing on a relatively consistent basis, so have the teams around them. Vancouver is 1-4-0 in their last five games. Winnipeg is 3-2-0, Los Angeles is 3-2-0, Calgary is 4-1-0 but have lost four of their last eight, and the Blues are 3-2-0. Those are not impressive records for teams in the playoff hunt.
If the Stars had gone 4-1-0 in their last five instead of 2-3-0, they would be in ninth place right now, just one point out of both wild card spots with games in hand.
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Doesn’t it just sting to look at that? Could you say that maybe it frustrates you or even enrages you? Does it help stir up your anger and frustration, creating an awful mixture?
It’s as if the Dallas Stars are the typical two-month old who maniacally slaps the spoon out of their mother’s hand as she is trying to feed them. But instead of broccoli, it’s chocolate ice cream. It tastes delicious and is fantastic, but they would rather be resilient and not accept it.
The Stars biggest problem is that they cannot help themselves. When they win, good things typically happen. They pick up some ground in the hunt and can carry some momentum into their next game. But they just cannot seem to get that done. It’s a little mistake here and there or a specific facet of the team underperforming that does them in on a nightly basis.
On Feb. 1, I wrote an article pointing out that the Stars’ fate would ultimately be be decided in this month. Their performance would dictate whether they would be playoff bound or move off into the early offseason abyss. They have posted a record of 0-3-0 in the month. So it looks like they may be leaning towards the abyss.
At this point, seven points is a pretty drastic spread, especially with five other teams fighting for position and currently having an upper hand on Dallas. And to think that these current Stars can close the gap and jump over the rest of the competition is quite the fantasy to try and wrap your head around.
After the Stars loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night, Lindy Ruff said, “I’m tired of looking at good numbers and not winning games.” He also called the play of the Stars “terrible” and said that it was “stupid hockey.”
Last night’s loss to the Maple Leafs prompted Stars forward Tyler Seguin, who scored the lone goal, to tell Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News, “I’m just so sick of talking about it. We have to look in the mirror, dig deeper, we have to all be professionals and try to get out of this together.”
So it’s clear that the coaches and players are frustrated. Great. That’s step one of the two step process. The second step is pretty simple: execute.
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Everything keeps going the wrong way for the Stars. If this trend keeps up, the Stars may as well be mathematically eliminated now and start rebuilding for next year.
The only thing that can save this Dallas Stars’ season is winning and a lot of it. 28 games remain in their schedule, meaning there is a max of 56 points left on the board. Considering the way things are currently going, the Stars will likely need somewhere around 36 points in order to hop into the postseason. That’s 18 wins.
If the past is any model to go off of, then the Stars have absolutely no chance. But maybe their frustration will finally turn into production. One thing is for sure: not many teams can come back from a seven point deficit in mid-February. It takes a special kind of team. It’s hard to imagine that the Stars are that kind of team at this point. We’ll see how things go down in Ottawa on Thursday.
