The Stars needed just one point in Tuesday's game to clinch a playoff spot, but they went one better and got two with the 6-2 thumping of the Flyers, clinching the team's first playoff berth since the 2015-16 season.
"It feels good," said Stars captain Jamie Benn. "We put in a lot of hard work and definitely deserve to be in the playoffs. It was definitely nice to get it done and get it clinched here at home in front of our fans."
"It feels good. Good. To be honest, it's good," added Stars forward Alexander Radulov. "Finally done it. It's nice to do it in front of our home crowd. They deserved it. They were good for us all year."
Tuesday's game had its ups and downs, but the Stars used a strong start and a strong finish to top the Flyers and punch their ticket to the postseason.
The Stars grabbed a 2-0 lead by the 4:14 mark of the first period. Jason Dickinson scored off the rush 1:34 into the game and then Mats Zuccarello set up Esa Lindell, who made a slick between-the-legs redirection into the net at the 4:14 mark.
The Flyers pushed back, getting the better of play for the rest of the period and into the second, tying the game on a goal by Oskar Lindblom at 1:13 of the second and a power-play goal by Shayne Gostisbehere at the 11:13 mark.
But the Stars responded later in the second with two quick goals to take a 4-2 lead.
Tyler Seguin sent a cross-ice pass to Radulov who scored on a backhand shot with the Stars on a power play at the 16:39 mark. Just 2:01 later, with the two sides playing four-on-four, Tyler Pitlick finished off a nice passing sequence that involved Roope Hintz, Lindell, and Miro Heiskanen to push the lead to two goals at the 18:40 mark.
The third period belonged to the Stars. The Flyers didn't help their cause by taking some penalties early in the period, and the Stars put the game away midway through the third with two goals in ten seconds by Blake Comeau and Radulov to extend the lead to 6-2. And the score stayed that way until the final horn, which signaled the Stars (42-31-7-91 points) were officially headed to the playoffs.
"It was important for us doing it in front of our fans," said Stars coach Jim Montgomery. "And for us doing it on our own merit, not someone losing a point to get in. I thought that was really important because when you get into the playoffs, you've got to be able to end series, and this is as much as you could get to replicating that."