Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Two goals in 30 seconds have possibly extended the futility of a Dallas sports franchise. In the third to last game of the season, with just minutes to go in the third period, the Dallas Stars led the San Jose Sharks 2-1 in seemingly good position to sneak into the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Then, the Sharks scored two goals in 30 seconds. The Stars went from having two incredibly important points locked up to being one loss away from elimination. For the fifth straight year, it looks like the Stars will not make the playoffs.
They have two more games against the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings, and need to win both (while hoping for Columbus and Detroit loses in their other games) to slip in.
Don’t get your hopes up, Stars fans. It’s not going to happen. This will be the third year in a row that the Stars’ playoff hopes have come down to the last few games, and if the last two seasons are any indication, it won’t end well.
Remember that in 2011, Dallas just needed to beat an already eliminated Minnesota Wild team to capture the eight seed, and they lost 5-3. Last season, sitting squarely in the playoff hunt, Dallas promptly lost five straight games to end the season including two to San Jose by a combined 8-2 to fall out of the playoff hunt and into 10th place.
So, once again the Stars will step into an early offseason looking to address several issues, namely, the defense being played in front of Kari Lehtonen. They’ll need to find more size, as they already have the speed. Don’t get me wrong, this team is not far off. Shore up the defense. Figure out how to avoid long periods of time in your own zone at even strength. Maybe hold on to a player or two for a full season so these guys can gain some sort of chemistry with each other.
Things will be looking up soon for the Stars, but not soon enough to make the playoffs this year.
You can follow Jamie on Twitter at @thedsportsrant.
