The Dallas Stars have 10 games left in the regular season, and there is still so much left to be decided.
Thanks to two consecutive Stars losses and the fact that everyone around them seems like they'll never lose in regulation again, the Stars are one of six Western Conference teams in a battle for the final three playoff spots (two spots if the team you root for happens to reside outside the Pacific Division).
The bright side for the Stars? They have games in hand over most of the teams involved in the race at this point. The downside is they've cooled off dramatically since the 11-game unbeaten streak put playoffs back on the minds of Stars fans everywhere.
But the team doesn't want to get too caught up in looking at the big picture, and in a way, they're approaching this final stretch as a first-round playoff series.
"You can’t look ahead too far or too much at the big picture, you’ve to look at it one game at a time. You’ve got to treat it like a playoff series," said Stars defenseman Stephane Robidas. "You win a game, you’re happy with it and you move on. You lose a game, you move on. To me, that’s the main thing, we’ve got to take care of our business."
After the jump, the Stars are trying to get guys healthy during their three days off, Alexander Radulov is likely on his way back to the NHL and why banging on the glass is dangerous for your health.
- The Stars held Sunday's practice at the Euless Dr Pepper StarCenter, and Trevor Daley became the most recent player to have adventures with breaking the glass. The newsier part of the story is that Sheldon Souray skated while Radek Dvorak didn't. [ESPN Dallas]
- Brandon will have more on the Stars prospects for you a little later this week, but Mike Heika's paywalled story today is on how the development process might finally start to pay dividends soon. [DallasNews.com]
- The only thing that would make this story about the Stars and their news children better is family portraits of Loui Eriksson and Toby Petersen and their new babies. Make this happen, team. [DallasStars.com]
- The full Sunday profile linked to this is paywalled, but for free you can check out some neat details about new owner Tom Gaglardi, including the astronomical price of his family's house in Vancouver. I'm not jealous. Not jealous at all. [DallasNews.com]
- There's been lots of talk about when Alexander Radulov would return to the Nashville Predators from his stint in the KHL, and the NHL even reworked some of its waiver rules so that he would be eligible for the playoffs. The last hang up was his KHL team, and that hurdle appears to have been crossed. [The Tennessean]
- I love Lindy Ruff's new practice jacket more than words can express. [Puck Daddy]
- Are we seeing the end of Don Cherry on CBC? [Backhand Shelf]
- Meet the enemy: The Edmonton Oilers led by two goals after two, but the Phoenix Coyotes came back late to win 3-2 in a shootout. Did you really expect anything different? [Edmonton Journal]
- Around the Pacific Division: The Anaheim Ducks had their tragic number drop yet again after a 3-1 loss to the Nashville Predators. [Los Angeles Times]
- Other scoreboard watching: The Chicago Blackhawks, even without captain Jonathan Toews, are starting to pull away from the pack after a 5-2 victory over the Washington Captials. And the Calgary Flames got the loser point in a 2-1 shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets and Steve Mason's new and properly fitted goalie pads. [Chicago Tribune/Calgary Herald]
- I will preface this with the fact that I actually have a lot of respect for that one dude at the AAC who shows up every game and spends half his time banging the glass behind the net, regardless of how silly it is. He's been there every night, even when a lot of fans weren't going. But this is what happens when glass-banging goes awry. [Puck Daddy]
- Courtesy of our friends over at the Morning News, some brief highlights on the annual Pros versus Prospects game, which featured coach Glen Gulutzan, general manager Joe Nieuwendyk and former most distinctive helmet among Stars players Stu Barnes.