Push to the Playoffs: Stars hope to pad slim advantage on road trip

This recent homestand was a great opportunity for the Dallas Stars to solidify their position in the Western Conference playoff race, but by picking up only three of 10 points, they'll have to get the job done on the road where they play their next four games and five of their final seven.
Coming into the homestand the Stars were tied with St. Louis at 79 points and were in third place in the Central Division based on the regulation/overtime wins (ROW) tiebreaker, but now they are six points behind the Blues.
They had a five-point lead over the ninth-place spot in the West when the homestand began, and now that lead is down to three points.

"We could be sitting in a really comfortable position if we win three of five on this homestand, but we haven't done that," said Stars coach Jim Montgomery. "So, we've got to look ahead now, and we've got to go and earn it on the road. And there's nothing wrong with that."

The Stars remain in the first wild-card spot in the West after Saturday's games. Their chances of catching St. Louis for third in the Central took another hit though. While the Stars were losing 3-2 to Pittsburgh Saturday, the Blues were knocking off Tampa Bay for their third straight win. So, St. Louis has a six-point lead over Dallas with seven games to play. And the Blues have pulled to within two points of Nashville for second in the Central Division with one game in hand.
Colorado took over the second wild-card spot with a 4-2 win over Chicago in the first game of a home-and-home series with the Blackhawks that wraps up Sunday at United Center. The Avalanche, who have won four straight, are now two points behind the Stars.
Arizona lost 2-1 in a shootout at New Jersey. The one point pulled the Coyotes, who are third in the wild-card race and ninth in the West, to within three points of the Stars. Arizona plays at the New York Islanders on Sunday.
And Minnesota, which is fourth in the wild-card race and 10th in the West, lost 5-1 at Carolina and is three points behind the Stars with one more game played.

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Stars' playoff chances

The Stars' chances of making the playoffs dropped after Saturday's loss to the Penguins along with other teams behind them picking up points. Here are the Stars' chances according to two sites that calculate these numbers:
Note: Sportsclubstats.com, whose numbers we had been using for this, has not been updated recently.

Stars' magic number

Although the Stars did not pick up any points Saturday, their magic number did drop to 12 with Arizona losing one point in a shootout loss at New Jersey. Any combination of 12 points gained by the Stars or loss by the team with the ninth-highest points potential would clinch a playoff spot for the Stars without the use of any tiebreakers.

Current playoff matchups

Central Division
1-Winnipeg vs. WC1-Dallas
2-Nashville vs. 3-St. Louis
Pacific Division
1-Calgary vs. WC2-Colorado
2-San Jose vs. 3-Vegas
The second wild-card spot in the Western Conference changed for the fourth consecutive day, shifting from Arizona to Colorado to Minnesota and now back to Colorado.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mark Stepneski has covered the Stars for DallasStars.com since 2012. Follow him on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.