STARS PLAYOFF HOPES GO DOWN TO THE WIRE AGAIN
The Dallas Stars had a golden opportunity last night to put a stranglehold on ensuring their first trip to the Stanley Cup playoffs after a five-year absence. Now it is going to come right down to the wire following a 3-1 home loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets last night.
Last night's match was the rescheduled home game from the postponed March 10 meeting with Columbus in which Stars forward Rich Peverley collapsed on the bench and had to be rushed to the hospital after suffering a cardiac event related his irregular heartbeat.
Although the teams played a full 60 minutes last night, the score reverted to the 1-0 score in favor of Columbus at the time of Peverley's collapse.
For stat keeping purposes, Nathan Horton (who is now injured and was not in the Blue Jackets lineup last night) was credited with a goal before the opening faceoff last night. Matt Calvert and James Wisniewski received credit for assists. Originally a power play goal, the goal was statistically listed as an even-strength goal but with no players on either side receiving a plus or minus.
Goaltender Tim Thomas, who yielded the goal in the March 10 start of the game, was not charged with a goal against nor did any of the other five shots he faced on March 10 carry over to last night. Thomas made his first start since a March 20 loss in Philadelphia.
For stat keeping purposes, Curtis McElhinney (who started on March 10 but was the backup to Sergei Bobrovsky last night) did not get credited with a game or any minutes played.
Already trailing 1-0 before the opening faceoff, the Stars came into the rescheduled game knowing they would need a strong start to erase the built-in deficit and set a positive tone against a Columbus team that dominated in the early going of the original match on March 10 and had won 4-2 over Dallas in Columbus six nights earlier.
It didn't happen. Just 1:33 into the restarted game, Thomas was unable to play a Columbus dump-in behind the net. Tyler Seguin got to the puck and tried to play it around the wall. Instead, Artem Anisimov claimed a strange carom off the boards and had an unimpeded path to Thomas. The Dallas goalie committed himself early. Ansimov moved a half-stride, reached around the goaltender on the forehand, and deposited the puck into the net.
Midway through the first period, the Stars' worst-case scenario got even worse. Mark Letestu scored a power play goal on a deflected shot to give Columbus a 3-0 lead. Dallas ended up getting outshot by a 12-8 margin in the first period.
Thomas (23 saves) did not allow another goal the rest of the game, but the 3-0 deficit was too much to overcome against Sergei Bobrovsky (33 saves). Trevor Daley broke up the shutout bid on a power play rebound goal at 11:21, assisted by Seguin and Jamie Benn. That was as close as the Stars got.
Despite last night's regulation loss, the Stars remain two points ahead of the Phoenix Coyotes for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference. Phoenix now holds one game in hand on the Stars. However, the Stars still control their own destiny in playoff chase because they hold an insurmountable advantage in the tiebreaking regulation/overtime win category of the standings. As a result, Phoenix has to finish one point ahead of the Stars in order to make the playoffs.
The Coyotes are in action tonight, playing on the road in Nashville. If the Coyotes defeat the Predators tonight, the Stars and Coyotes will be tied in points with two games remaining.
Both the Stars and Coyotes have tough games upcoming in their next-to-last games of the regular season. Tomorrow night, the Stars host St. Louis in the final regular season game at the American Airlines Center. Phoenix hosts the San Jose Sharks on Saturday.
On Sunday, the Stars and Coyotes clash head-to-head in Phoenix. Depending on what happens on Friday and Saturday nights, the game will either be a showdown for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference or will be meaningless.
The Stars are no strangers to having their playoff fate come down to the waning days of the regular season. Unfortunately, the team's recent history in that regard is a forgettable one.
In 2010-11, the Stars needed a win in Minnesota on the final day of the regular season to get into the playoffs. Dallas led 2-1 after the first period and the teams were tied, 3-3, heading into the third period. Two unanswered Wild goals in the third period eliminated Dallas from the playoffs in what proved to be Marc Crawford's final game as Stars' coach.
In 2011-12, the Stars were in first place in the Pacific Division with five games remaining in the regular season. Dallas proceeded to lose all five of their remaining games to tumble out of the playoffs. The Stars were eliminated from the playoffs in their next-to-last game; a 2-0 loss in Nashville.
Last season, Dallas controlled its own playoff destiny again heading into the final week of the lockout-shortened 48-game season. Once again, the Stars finished out the season with five straight losses. In the final week, a third-period collapse in San Jose was followed by a 3-1 loss to Columbus that knocked out the Stars in the next-to-last game of the season.
This year, even if the Coyotes pick up four points in their next two games and the Stars lose in regulation to St. Louis, Dallas could still get into the playoffs. To do so, they'd need a regulation win in Phoenix on Saturday.