The Dallas Stars have won seven of their last 10 games and have secured firm control of the second seed in the Western Conference.
Dallas is hitting its stride at the perfect time this season. The team looks to grow its lead over the Vegas Golden Knights for the second seed in the Western Conference standings.
The Stars have been impressive over the last 25 games of the season, putting together a record of 18-6-1 in those matchups; the team has climbed the standings since the beginning of the new year, per NHL.com.
Dallas is currently four points ahead of Vegas in the standings and trails the Winnipeg Jets by only six points for the top spot in the Western Conference.
The Stars will have the opportunity to pick up an important win against the Jets during an upcoming road trip. A victory in Winnipeg could move Dallas much closer to the coveted first overall seed.
Although the Stars have picked up multiple blowout wins during this stretch, the most impressive aspect is the team’s ability to win close games despite missing key players with injuries.
Dallas has been without center Tyler Seguin since early December due to a hip injury that is expected to keep him out until the middle of April at the earliest. However, he recently began skating and could return to the ice if the Stars make a run in the playoffs.
Defenseman Miro Heiskanen has also been away from the team since the end of January due to a knee injury. He has been rehabbing in Dallas, and General Manager Jim Nill says the team is “anticipating” his return during the playoffs.
“We’ll get a better feel for that once we get probably to mid-March, late-March, somewhere in there. Get a better feel for it. But he’s on schedule for what took place. … We do expect him back … sometime in the playoffs,” he said, per The Dallas Morning News.
Stars center Wyatt Johnston said the team would prefer to win in a dominant fashion but is more focused on getting healthy and leaving games with victories to continue moving up in the conference standings.
“It’s really important,” Johnston said after a close win over the New Jersey Devils on Tuesday, per NHL.com. “Every point is so important. You’ve got to win all sorts of ways, and tonight was an example of that.”
Dallas will look to continue this winning streak with one more home matchup against the Calgary Flames on Thursday night before beginning a four-game road trip that includes three games in Canada.