{"id":203958,"date":"2026-03-14T02:23:11","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T02:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/203958\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T02:23:11","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T02:23:11","slug":"can-dallas-stars-finally-get-over-the-hump-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/203958\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Dallas Stars finally get over the hump in 2026?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Stars<\/a> are well on their way to their fifth consecutive playoff appearance. They\u2019ve made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals<\/a> in the last three. Can they finally punch through in 2026?<\/p>\n

The postseason is creeping closer and the Stars are currently in the mix for a top spot. The Dallas Morning News will be there for every Stars playoff game, and we\u2019re keeping track of their spot in the standings up until the puck drops on the 2026 NHL playoffs.<\/p>\n

Check out live updates on the Stars\u2019 spot in the Western Conference, the Central Division and their potential first-round matchup below.<\/p>\n

How the NHL playoffs work<\/p>\n

Sports Roundup<\/p>\n

Get the latest D-FW sports news, analysis and opinion delivered straight to your inbox. Plus, Kevin Sherrington’s A La Carte.<\/p>\n

By signing up, you agree to our\u00a0Terms of Service<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Privacy Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n

The top three teams in each of the four divisions will make up the first 12 teams in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

The remaining four spots will be filled by the next two highest-placed finishers in each conference, based on regular-season record and regardless of division.<\/p>\n

In the first round, the division winner with the best record in each conference will be matched against the wild-card team with the lesser record. The wild card team with the better record will play the other division winner.<\/p>\n

The teams finishing second and third in each division will meet in the first round to round out the playoff field.<\/p>\n

Stars\u2019 current standingsOverall NHL standingsTeamGames playedWinsLossesOvertime lossesPointsColorado Avalanche644411997Dallas Stars6541141092Carolina Hurricanes654118688Minnesota Wild6638161288Buffalo Sabres664020686Western Conference standingsTeamGames playedWinsLossesOvertime lossesPointsColorado Avalanche644411997Dallas Stars6541141092Minnesota Wild6638161288Anaheim Ducks653626375Utah Mammoth663426674Central Division standings<\/p>\n

Standings as of March 13.<\/p>\n

First-round playoff matchup<\/p>\n

If the playoffs started today, the Stars would be taking on the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the NHL playoffs. Dallas would have home-ice advantage.<\/p>\n

Latest stories<\/p>\n

\u2014 Red-hot Dallas Stars blow out Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers in gloves-off contest<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Dallas Stars provide injury updates on forwards Mikko Rantanen, Roope Hintz<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Defenseman Tyler Myers becomes first native Texan to play for Dallas Stars<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>3 things to know about Stars-Red Wings: Dallas can tie 1999 team\u2019s record streak with win<\/a><\/p>\n

The Stars have points in 14 consecutive games, putting them in rarified air in the franchise\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\"Dallas<\/a>Who is Justin Hryckowian? 5 things to know about Dallas Stars’ scrappy rookie<\/a><\/p>\n

Hryckowian made a name for himself against the Edmonton Oilers and went head-to-head with Connor McDavid.<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/a>Former Dallas Cowboys star Micah Parsons swaps jerseys with Oilers\u2019 Connor McDavid<\/a><\/p>\n

Parsons, now with the Green Bay Packers, shared a moment with McDavid after Edmonton\u2019s loss to the Dallas Stars.<\/p>\n

Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dallas Stars are well on their way to their fifth consecutive playoff appearance. They\u2019ve made it all…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":203959,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[102,104,103,1115,2484,80428,2486],"class_list":["post-203958","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-dallas","tag-dallas","tag-dallas-headlines","tag-dallas-news","tag-dallas-stars","tag-nhl","tag-nhl-playoffs","tag-stars"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203958","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=203958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/203958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/203959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=203958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=203958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=203958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}