The Dallas Stars have clinched a top two-finish in the Central Division and home-ice advantage in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs going into their home game against the Utah Hockey Club on Saturday night.
That’s despite a 4-0 home loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night, which was Dallas’ fourth defeat in a row (0-2-2).
“We’ve struggled with them all year. They’re the best defensive team in the league. Their record is where it’s at because of that,” Dallas forward Matt Duchene said. “I thought we did a lot of good things. Our work ethic was good, some traffic shots, but they were one-and-done a little too much. Breakdowns that ended up in our net.
“It’s not like they were dominating us all night. I don’t think it was a 4-0 type game by any means. It felt like a 2-1 either side. I think the last two games (here) are steps in the right direction of where we want to get to, as funny as that sounds.”
The Stars (50-23-6, 106 points) have three regular-season games remaining.
Jake Oettinger made 31 saves on Thursday, but Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck saved all 25 shots Dallas put on net.
“They have a good goalie and they play good defensively,” Dallas forward Roope Hintz said. “… We played all right for two periods, but we just couldn’t score, so we got to find a way to score. We got to watch some video and see what didn’t work today, and then from there take those with us to the next game.”
With the loss, the Stars became the last team to be shut out this season.
The Utah Hockey Club (36-30-13, 85 points) had their two-game winning streak snapped with a 4-3 home shootout loss to the Nashville Predators on Thursday night. Utah finished with an 18-15-8 home-ice record in its first season in Salt Lake City.
The franchise relocated from Arizona following last season.
“The first season here in our NHL history, it’s crazy to think about that. Just how quickly it happened and how great of a move it’s been,” Clayton Keller said. “(I’m) just super thankful. So many people gave us a great position to be successful, and I couldn’t be more excited for next year.”
The Utah Hockey Club led 2-0 on Thursday night on second-period goals by Nick Bjugstad and Josh Doan.
After the Predators rallied to take a 3-2 lead, Dylan Guenther tied the game on a rebound of Logan Cooley’s shot in the third period. Karel Vejmelka made 28 saves in the loss.
Nick Schmaltz, Keller and Guenther were foiled in the shootout on a night Utah compiled 42 shots.
“Not the result we wanted,” Utah coach Andre Tourigny said. “I think we played a good game offensively, did not like our game defensively. I think our commitment defensively was not what it has been for a long time. But Vejmelka was elite, made key saves at key moments.”
–Field Level Media
