Ideally, if you’re one of those nine teams fighting for the bottom six playoff spots in the Western Conference, you don’t want to give away points by going to overtime against another one of those nine teams. The Stars on Monday night will be happy with it.
Stars Vs. Kings: Jamie Benn’s Overtime Winner Boosts Dallas In West Playoff Picture
Dallas overcame three one-goal deficits against the Los Angeles Kings before Jamie Benn’s overtime winner gave them a vital two points in the standings. SB Nation’s Defending Big D touched on the imperfect nature of the win:
It’s the same mantra we’ve been using all season: it wasn’t a perfect win and hell, it’s not an ideal way to win in traditional hockey sense, but it is a win and they are all big at this point of the season so we’ll take it and (for the most part) not even question how or why...
The Kings now sit two back of the fifth place Stars with 77 points, good for eighth place. They’re two points ahead of ninth place Minnesota, and these days in the Wild West, a two point edge feels damn comfortable.
Elsewhere in the NHL...
Blues 5, Blue Jackets 4 (SO): The lede on the NHL.com recap has something to do with the St. Louis Blues and their slim playoff hopes. Yeah, right. The truth is that neither of these teams are likely to make the playoffs at this point, with less than 20 games remaining and a seven to 10 point gap to close. It’d take a minor miracle, to say the least.
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