The Dallas Stars will visit the Toronto Maple Leafs Monday night knowing where they stand entering the playoffs.
The Stars (48-20-12, 108 points) clinched the No. 2 seed in the Central Division Saturday with a 2-0 home victory over the New York Rangers.
Their third consecutive win has assured them home-ice advantage in their first-round Western Conference playoff series against the Minnesota Wild.
“We’ve played in a couple of Game 7s in the last couple of years, and you just feel that much more confident when you’re playing it at home,” Stars goalie Jake Oettinger said. “If it were to get to that point, then it’s important for us. You start at home, and you feel like you get off to a good start and let your crowd get into it early. We know this place is going to be rocking, so we can’t wait for next weekend.”
The Maple Leafs (32-34-14, 78 points) accepted a 6-2 home loss Saturday to the Florida Panthers in a game between teams already eliminated from playoff contention.
The Panthers eliminated the Maple Leafs in a seven-game playoff series last season on their way to winning their second straight Stanley Cup championship. This season, the teams are jockeying for draft position.
“It’s tough for both teams,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said. “I wouldn’t have thought that (both would miss the playoffs). But circumstances — injuries, and a lot of things — play into it. I don’t need to sit here and explain them all. But that is the way it goes sometimes in this league. It just shows the parity in this league. You can’t take a breath. There are no easy teams.”
The Maple Leafs fell behind 3-0 against the Panthers before William Nylander scored his 27th and 28th goals to cut the lead to 3-2 after two periods. Two of Florida’s three-third period goals were into an empty net. Toronto has lost five straight (0-4-1).
“All these games are weird when you’re out of the playoffs,” Nylander said. “As of late, I think we’ve been competing good, but tonight, I think they were competing better than us.”
Goaltending is a key in the playoffs, and Oettinger was strong against the Rangers, stopping 22 shots to earn his fourth shutout of the season.
“It’s tough to get shutouts. It takes the whole team, and a lot of guys did a lot of great stuff for me there,” Oettinger said.
After allowing three power play goals in a 5-4 win over the Wild on Thursday, the Stars blanked the Rangers on all five of their power play attempts on Saturday.
“I thought our penalty kill was excellent,” Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. “I thought we got better as the game went on. I thought (Oettinger) was really solid. There’s lots of things I liked. We come in the third and keep pushing, and the power play gets one. It’s not easy this time of year, all the games are tough.”
The Stars won their final home game of the regular season when Jason Robertson scored his 43rd and 44th goals in the third period, one into an empty net.
“We don’t score easy,” Gulutzan said. “We grind to score. We’re playing a little bit of a stingier brand of hockey that we’re willing to stay with, and usually that is the way it goes in the playoffs. Hopefully that benefits us.”
The Stars previously defeated the Maple Leafs 5-1 on Dec. 21.
