The Dallas Stars no longer fully control their own destiny in the Western Conference playoff race. If the club fails to make the playoffs, the single most glaring reason will be the club's horrific performances in the second half of back-to-back games.

The Stars don't have any more consecutive-night games this season but the damage is already done: 1-11-2 in the second games. Far too many of the losses were blowouts or semi-blowouts where Dallas looked to be skating in cement. Excluding shootouts, the Stars were outscored by a margin of 53-21.

Last night, the Sharks so thoroughly dominated the Stars that the 3-0 score doesn't even do justice to how one-sided the game really was. San Jose came out hungry and determined, the Stars had little resistance to offer. The Stars took way too many dumb penalties. Their defense got turnstiled and utterly pushed around near their own net. Antti Niemi was barely tested. The Joe Thornton line dominated the Mike Ribeiro line and Logan Couture's line was far better than Jamie Benn's line.

Dallas' best chance of the game -- with San Jose ahead 1-0 from the opening minute of play -- was a point blank chance for leading scorer Michael Ryder that got blocked. The Sharks controlled the neutral and offensive zones and won nearly 6 of every 10 faceoffs.

Really, the Stars were not all that competitive in Vancouver on Friday night either, despite being in the game on the scoreboard early. Dallas basically ran into the business end of a buzzsaw the last two nights, and the club's 1-3-0 road trip result accurately reflected how the Stars played.

The home game against San Jose is absolutely a must-win for the Stars if they want their final two games against Nashville and St. Louis to mean more than a wing-and-a-prayer shot at a playoff spot after occupying first place in the Pacific Division for the majority of the month of March.

The Sharks have not only won four of five in the season series so far, they've thumped the Stars in all four of the wins. San Jose enjoys a 20-5 goal differential in the season series to date. So it's gut check time of the highest order when these clubs rematch in Dallas.


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