The Stars have moved up in the conference and are within striking distance of first place. They now sit third in the Central and are four points Nashville for second. This is incredible considering the skid the Stars took after winning four straight. Now, they look ahead and hope to continue this success as the defending Stanley Cup champions head the Big D.

In other news, albeit not good, the Stars may have to play the Capitals without their leading goal scorer. Jamie Benn took a massive hit from Miles Wood and fell hard. Benn was clearly in pain and went to the locker room and did not return. This is not what the Stars needed after losing Hanzal and Dickinson. This team is just injury plagued and it is incredible that they still continue to battle back from these unfortunate setbacks.

The Capitals, on the other hand, have dropped two straight games in a decisive manner. They are now 7-3-0 in their last ten. However, the good news for them is that most of their players are now healthy. Matt Niskanen returned to the lineup against the Blues and the only player they are missing is Christian Djoos. Whom is recovering from surgery. Alex Ovechkin leads the league with 30 goals now and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. And one cannot forget about Backstrom and Kuznetsov. Two of the best centers in the world. This team is fast, and dangerous and it’s probably why they lifted Lord Stanley last year.

This isn’t exactly a must win for the Stars, but it a huge game for Dallas. If the Stars could hand the Capitals their third straight loss then that could carry over to their mini road trip. And any confidence is key for the Stars on the road. Their road record isn’t exactly atrocious but 8-11-2 compared to 13-5-2 is not good. Overall, the Stars need to start being more consistent and it could start with a win against the Capitals.

Also, speaking of consistency, the Stars currently have half of last season’s record. They sit at 21-16-4. While last year they went 42-32-8. Dallas has to improve on this because if they continue this pace then they may just miss the playoffs once again. 92 points may get you in this year, but with the Central Division you can never be too sure.