The Stars entered the final week of the NHL season with their fate in their hands.
The team needed just one win in its remaining three games to advance through the competitive Central Division and avoid a first-round clash with rivals Winnipeg and Colorado.
On Saturday, in the penultimate game of the season, the Stars defeated the Kraken 3-1 against Seattle to win their first division title since the 2015-16 season. Dallas became the first team in the NHL to win the division.
“We'd like to put up a banner that's more important than that, but I'm proud of our players,” Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger said. “Our efforts over the past six months have been truly remarkable.”
The win gives Dallas a chance to win the Western Conference regular-season championship, which will be won if Vancouver loses to Edmonton on Saturday night or the Stars win their final regular-season game against St. Louis on Wednesday night. . This game could also decide the Presidents Trophy if the New York Rangers cancel their final game against the Ottawa Senators on Monday.
The Stars have not won the Western Conference regular season crown since the same 2015-16 season. They haven't won the Presidents Trophy since winning the Stanley Cup in 1998-99.
The Stars closed the gap on Seattle on Saturday with goals from Craig Smith and Jason Robertson late in the first two periods. Miro Heiskanen had a three-point night and contributed to each of Dallas' goals.
“I think he deserves it,” Stars head coach Pete DeBoer said of Heiskanen, “because I ask him every night to play the amount of game time with the players that he plays, and I ask him to stick around all night. I'll keep the puck on, so I'll just get used to it.” . “When it comes to special nights, you know he’s special almost every night.”
Dallas had just four shots on target in the first period, but took a 1-0 lead with about two seconds left. Smith deflected Robertson's shot, giving his team a 1-0 advantage at the first intermission.
The Stars had a chance to take a 2-0 advantage midway through the second period, but were given a penalty shot after a scrum when Kraken defenseman Jamie Oleksiak was ruled to have covered the puck at Seattle's crease. Given the. This set up a penalty shot for Sam Steele, but his shot was low and saved by Seattle goaltender Philipp Grubauer. Dallas has made 2 of 4 penalty shot attempts this year.
Dallas was unable to capitalize on that penalty, but had success with two other penalties in the second half. The Stars started a power play with less than two minutes remaining after Ryker Evans was called for hooking Wyatt Johnston. Early on that power play, Seattle had a short-handed breakaway, but Brandon Tanev, brother of Chris Tanev, ran into Oettinger and was called for goaltender interference, making Dallas score 5-3 at 1:38. gave an advantage.
Forty seconds later, Robertson scored. He also assisted on Smith's goal and scored two points.
After assisting on the first two goals, Heikkanen scored one of his own midway through the third period to close out the game.
Oettinger came close to getting another shutout, but Kyler Yamamoto scored for Seattle with about five minutes remaining. Oettinger made 26 total saves.
“It's great to play in front of him,” Heiskanen said. “He makes great saves and saves us a little bit sometimes. When he has that kind of confidence, it's easy for everyone to play in front of him.”
The win guarantees the Stars will start the playoffs at home and potentially host a Game 7 in the first two rounds. This also narrows the potential first-round opponents to just three teams: the Nashville Predators, Los Angeles Kings, and Vegas Golden Knights, with just three points separating them.
If the postseason started today, the Stars would host Vegas in a rematch of last year's Western Conference Finals. However, the opponent will be officially determined at some point within the next six days.
Stars players said they believe they can handle any opponent assigned to them in the first round. After establishing themselves as division champions and conference favorites, they are gunning for the best chance possible at advancing in the postseason.
“Of course it's great to win, but the work is not done yet,” said Heiskanen. “It's just the first step.”
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