Dallas Stars Week Ahead 2/22-26

Since battling a bit of a head cold the last few days, so I'm looking to catch up despite the Stars VS. Canadians Game last night where the Stars won 3-0 against a Montreal team that is falling in the Eastern Conference as last night's loss takes them to 14th Place with a 24-27-10 record (58 PTS) and 7 points back of 8th Place Toronto with just 21 games left in the regular season. It last night's win for the Stars last night included just the 3rd shutout of the season and Ryan Garbutt who scored his 1st career NHL Goal in just his 3rd game.

The Stars on the other hand are at 30-26-4 with 64 points and are now just 2 points back of the 8th Place Los Angeles Kings for the 8th & Final Playoff Spot in the Western Conference with 22 games left. Overall the gap from 7th Place Phoenix to 13th Place Anaheim is just 9 points right now. However, they left some valuable points on the table with 3 straight losses last week with OT Losses to Phoenix & Calgary as well as a 3-2 loss to Nashville as all 3 games had opportunities to not only close the gap in the West but be able to make it easier to jump over teams without needing help from opposing teams.

The Stars have another opportunity to play some critical opponents as the Stars will finish their quick 2 game road trip in Chicago tomorrow night, then it's back home for a 3 game home stand with Minnesota on 2/24, Vancouver for the first time this season Sunday Night & then a Nationally Televised Game in both the USA & Canada on February 29 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It's been an up-and-down month of February as the team is nearing the end of a very hectic February where they were playing 16 games in 29 days this month as they currently sit 6-4-2 this month, which sounds good. Until you look at some of the victories which included the likes of the Columbus Blue Jackets who's the absolute worst team in the league, as well as some critical losses in the Pacific Division where 3 of the 4 regulation losses have come from which could have helped in the Pacific Division Race.

Despite those losses, the Stars are just 5 points back of Division Leading San Jose but they would have to get on a run to leap frog past the LA Kings & Phoenix Coyotes are tied with 66 points right now. Anaheim on the other hand is sitting in 13th Place in the West and just 4 points back of the Stars, that's how tight the Race for the final 2 playoff spots in the West with most teams having just over 20 games left in the season.

Here's the Schedule for the rest of the Week

2/21: Dallas Stars 3  Montreal Canadians 0  (1-0, 0-0, 2-0)

2/23: Dallas Stars VS. Chicago Blackhawks  7:30 PM (FSN Southwest)

2/24: Minnesota Wild VS. Dallas Stars  7:30 PM (FSN Southwest)

2/26: Vancouver Canucks VS. Dallas Stars  2:00 PM (FSN Southwest)