In an 82 game season, a team rides a wave of highs and lows. How long a team can sustain those highs and how well they weather the lows will define whether a season is successful, or not. The Dallas Stars have already experienced extreme high and extreme low this year. A dysmal start to the season that had Dallas sitting dead last in the Western Conference in early December turned into an incredible run that saw the Stars playing some of the best hockey in the NHL.

Right now the Stars are sitting somewhere in between the high and low and how they respond in the next few games will go a long way in defining the 2008-2009 season. The Stars must find a way to rebound from the disappointing performances of the past week and recover the confidence that drove them through a five game winning streak and up the Western conference standings.

Dallas currently sits in sixth place in the West and is tied with Columbus and Anaheim at 61 points. Just four points separate the Stars and the eleventh spot and there is absolutely zero room for error now. This team must wake up from its stupor or things will become sour immediately.

Columbus is riding a four game winning streak and are enjoying rookie Steve Mason's return to form after sitting out a few weeks with mononucleosis. Mason has a 1.25 goals-against average during the win streak and Columbus is looking for payback following the last meeting between the two teams, when the Stars lit up the Blue Jackets for seven goals. Getting back to their scoring ways against Mason will be difficult for the Stars, who have scored just eight goals over their last four games.

Key Injuries:

	2008-2009 Team Stats
61	Points:	61
27	Wins:	28
2	Shutouts:	8
20	Power Play Rank:	30
24	Penalty Kill Rank:	16
.875	Win % When Leading After 1:	.700
.875	Win % When Leading After 2:	.842
.333	Win % When Trailing After 1:	.273
.053	Win % When Trailing After 2:	.048

Team leaders:

GOALS:	26	L. Eriksson		23	R. Nash
ASSISTS:	36	M. Ribeiro		28	R. Nash
POINTS:	49	M. Ribeiro		51	R. Nash
+/-:	12	S. Robidas		23	J. Hejda
OT GOALS:	1	L. Eriksson		2	R. Nash

Around the West:

The Anaheim Ducks gets rocked by Atlanta 8-4, continue slide down the standings.

The Sedin twins each notch a goal as Vancouver gets by Montreal, 4-2.

Last place Colorado beats rival Detroit 6-5 in thrilling shootout win.

Western Conference standings: