Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Stars can’t afford any more ‘moral victories’

Winnipeg Jets v Dallas Stars

DALLAS, TX - OCTOBER 25: Head coach Lindy Ruff of the Dallas Stars looks on as the Dallas Stars take on the Winnipeg Jets in the third period at American Airlines Center on October 25, 2016 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Tom Pennington/Getty Images)

Getty Images

With five straight home games before the Christmas break, the Dallas Stars have a good opportunity to get back into the playoff race.

On the other hand, their opponents will be the Ducks, Rangers, Flyers, Blues, and Kings, so maybe it’s not such a great opportunity after all.

The Stars dropped both their games over the weekend. Saturday, they lost 4-2 in Philadelphia. Sunday, it was a 3-1 defeat in Chicago. They’re currently two points back of Los Angeles for the second wild-card spot, and the Kings have three games in hand.

Though Dallas has been playing better lately compared to the start of the season, it still hasn’t been good enough.

“There’s no moral victories. There’s no ‘We played good in Detroit or Pittsburgh or Philly,’” said forward Jason Spezza, per the Dallas Morning News. “It’s not good enough. It’s not good enough with the type of team we have. It doesn’t matter if you play well if you don’t win games. It’s a results-oriented business, and these losses get tougher and tougher because we know we have a hole to climb out of.”

Read more: What has happened to the Dallas Stars?

If this five-game home stand goes poorly, that hole will only get deeper for the defending Central Division champs.

The Stars only lost 23 games in regulation last season. They’ve already lost 13 this season. There’s still time to turn it around -- starting Tuesday against the Ducks -- but the pressure is building.