Still not out of the playoff race in the western conference, the Stars got a huge boost with a win over one of the most consistent franchises in the NHL in recent years by defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1. Along with their go ahead goal in the closing seconds in Pittsburgh earlier in the season, Dallas swept the Penguins this season. 

The teams were scoreless in the first frame. Finally, in the second the Stars scored first with a goal by Brett Ritchie, assisted by Jamie Benn and Shawn Horcoff, and then took a two goal lead as Jamie Benn scored by putting the puck around the outstretched leg of Marc Andre-Fleury on a second chance after being rejected by Fleury initially. Tyler Seguin and Cody Eakin assisted. Pittsburgh got back in the game when Kris Letang scored his 11th goal of the season after Dallas was called for a questionable penalty which set up a power play for the Penguins. Crosby and Christian Ehrhoff assisted on his goal. 

In the third period the Stars opened with a man advantage after Steve Downie hit Antoine Roussel after the second period ended. Even though the Stars could not take advantage of that man advantage they kept the Penguins off the board in the third and closed out the game with the score at 2-1 to get two points and gain much needed ground in the playoff race. 

Overall Pittsburgh outshot Dallas 32-26, but Dallas got more takeaways (12-8) and face-offs (41-24) which spurred them on to victory. It was a chippy game throughout with 14 penalty minutes each.

Dallas now sits at 76 points with 11 games to go, but the playoffs remain a longshot as they still sit eight points behind the Winnipeg Jets for the final wild card spot in the west. The Stars have played well against the East this season at 18-11-2 overall, and specifically against the metropolitan are 12-3-1. 

Pittsburgh still has to fight for playoff positioning in the east despite having 88 points. They are tied for third in the metropolitan division with the Washington Capitals, but they have a game in hand over Washington and both teams are just two points behind the New York Islanders. 

Dallas has a day off before hosting the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night and the Penguins will have a day off before traveling to the valley of the sun to take on the Arizona Coyotes. 

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About the author
Josh McSwain
Texas born and raised, but I bleed black and gold--Mizzou forever. Just a small town boy looking to take the midnight train. Football is my favorite sport but my favorite sporting event is the Stanley Cup Playoffs.