For the fifth consecutive season, the Dallas Stars are heading to the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Dallas officially clinched its spot on Sunday night with the Utah Mammoth beating the Los Angeles Kings in overtime. The Stars are the second team in the NHL to land a playoff spot, joining their Central Division rival Colorado Avalanche.
Dallas had a chance to seal their berth with a point earlier on Sunday against the Vegas Golden Knights but lost 3-2 in regulation, necessitating some help from Utah to clinch.
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Sealing their playoff spot is the latest accomplishment for a Stars team that has been among the best teams in the entire NHL all season. In their first season under Glen Gulutzan, the Stars have maintained the level of regular season success they had under Pete DeBoer.
The only playoff mystery left for the Stars to solve over the final few weeks of the regular season is their seeding. If Dallas fails to catch Colorado in the Central Division standings, it likely will face Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs. Tracking down the Avalanche in the standings could give Dallas home ice advantage throughout the playoffs, given the fact Dallas and Colorado currently have the two best point totals in the sport.
The Stars, who have 97 points with 12 games remaining, will also have a chance over the final weeks of the regular season to set a new franchise points record. That record is owned by the same team that won the franchise’s only Stanley Cup, as the 1998-99 Stars went 51-19-12 with 114 points.
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