After 188 days, a grueling regular season schedule, a trip to Finland, a second place finish in the Central and 105 points banked, the Dallas Stars finish the regular season in the same place they started it back on October 10.
Dallas heads to Nashville to conclude the regular season and get one more tune-up before facing the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Dallas Stars defenseman Lian Bichsel (6) scores a goal against Nashville Predators goaltender Justus Annunen (29) during the third period at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Lots of things have changed since the first meeting in Nashville, where Dallas secured a 4-3 win in October. The Stars faced goaltender Scott Wedgewood, who was traded to Colorado mid-season. Nashville had just made a giant splash with three free agent signings that were the talk of the town, and almost everyone had the Preds making the playoffs.
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The season went wrong in almost all ways from that point forward, and at 29-44-8, only the Chicago Blackhawks and San Jose Sharks had worse records this season. Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault did not create the offensive impact General Manager Barry Trotz was expecting, as Nashville ranked dead last in goal scoring this season. Their -64 goal difference was third worst in the league.
Dallas has not had much to play for since their loss to the Winnipeg Jets a week ago, with second place and a showdown with Colorado all but locked up after that defeat. Already on a losing streak, Dallas still has not picked up a win since, and even though the losses might not matter in the grand scheme of things, it has put everyone on high alert about how capable the team is to dispatch as good a team as the Avalanche in the first round.
After everything that went into taking the next step past the Western Conference Final hurdle that has stymied them two seasons in a row, a first round exit would be catastrophic for the team’s progress towards a championship.
Getting a win against Nashville would do a lot of good to remind everyone what winning feels like, and at least would eliminate the talking point of being on a seven game losing streak going into the playoffs. It’s not easy to flip the switch to playoff mode, but it’s exactly what the Stars will have to do after the game.
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Only one more playoff spot is up for grabs – the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference – and every playoff matchup has been set in stone going into the final two days of the season. Columbus must win and have Montreal lose in regulation to grab that last playoff spot, and Montreal only needs a point to secure a first round series against Washington. Minnesota and St. Louis both won Tuesday, eliminating Calgary’s final push to squeeze in above those two teams in the West.
Nashville will have their fan appreciation night, just like Detroit did on Monday, when Dallas comes to town, and surely the Predators will want to send their disappointed fanbase off with one more win at the very least.
At morning skate, head coach, Pete DeBoer, announced that Jake Oettinger would be the net minder in the last contest of the season. The team is battling an illness in the locker room, so DeBoer indicated there would be several game-time decisions, including Tyler Seguin. If Seguin returns to the lineup, it will be his first game since December 1st.
Puck drop is at 7 p.m. CDT and can be seen locally on Victory+ and out-of-market on ESPN+.
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