As the games continue to dwindle in the regular season, the Dallas Stars just can't seem to buy a break.
The Stars, who edged the Buffalo Sabres 4-3 at American Airlines Center on Monday night, remain eight points behind the Winnipeg Jets, who won 4-1 at the Edmonton Oilers on Monday, for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.
Dallas, who is 8-2-0 over their past 10 games, has nine regular-season games remaining. The Stars begin a three-game swing through Western Canada on Wednesday night at the Calgary Flames.
"The only thing we can do is try to win out. Take it a game at a time, but try to win out," Stars head coach Lindy Ruff said. "We know where we're at, and it's tough. But we're going to give it everything we've got."
Stars captain Jamie Benn had two goals and an assist while Patrick Eaves had a goal and an assist. Kari Lehtonen stopped 25 of 29 shots for Dallas. Lehtonen is 6-1-0 over his past seven games.
Cody Eakin had the game-winner for Dallas, who overcame deficits of 1-0, 2-1 and 3-2. The Stars victimized former backup goaltender Anders Lindback for three goals in the third period to earn their third straight win.
Buffalo lost its third consecutive game and with the Sabres continuing to have the worst record in the National Hockey League, the talk of winning the race to get the top pick in the 2015 NHL Draft in June and the top prize of 18-year-old Canadian center Connor McDavid, a can't-miss prospect who is being called the sport's next big thing, continues to ratchet up.
However, Sabres head coach Ted Nolan isn't terribly concerned about whether or not his club ends up picking first come June. Instead Nolan is focused on helping his team win as much as possible over this final stretch.
"We've been dealing with that (talk about us getting the No. 1 pick) for quite some time," Nolan said. "It seems everybody has their focus on a draft choice, but our focus is trying to get these guys to compete and try to win a game. That's where our focus will be."
Dallas (35-28-10, 80 points) finishes its four-game homestand at 3-1-0. The Stars are now 16-14-8 at AAC.
Now Dallas hits the road, where they are 19-4-2. Of the Stars' nine remaining games, six are on the road and three are on home ice.
"One game at a time," Eakin said. "We got to win just about every game, so just one game at a time. Pedal to the floor every time."
