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Stars cruise past Panthers, gain momentum heading into pivotal showdown in Nashville

The Stars are chasing the Predators for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Central Division. Only two games between the two teams remain.

All eyes are on Broadway.

The Stars dispatched the Panthers easily Saturday afternoon, running away with a 4-1 win after scoring twice in the opening 109 seconds. They received big saves from Anton Khudobin. They got two goals from rookie sensation Jason Robertson, and Jamie Benn continued to produce on the power play.

The win was a soothing one over one of the league’s top teams. It followed nicely on Dallas’ four-goal trouncing of Chicago on Thursday, and any two points the Stars can get are wholly welcomed in the final month of the season.

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But Saturday’s game was never going to be the most important one of the weekend. That comes Sunday in Nashville in the shadow of the Broadway honkytonks.

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“We know what’s ahead of us [Sunday] trying to chase down Nashville,” Benn said. “Another big, important game.”

The Stars are chasing the Predators for the fourth and final playoff spot in the Central Division, entering Saturday seven points behind with three games in hand. Only two games between the two teams remain; Sunday and May 1.

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A loss Sunday in Nashville ruins a chance to close the gap and lays a roadblock for the Stars in a season defined by them so far. A win puts the Stars in decent position ahead of Monday’s trade deadline.

“If we can continue what we did [Saturday], get a good start, the results will be there for us,” Robertson said.

The Stars came out flying Saturday, as the two goals in the opening 1:49 were the fastest two goals since the franchise moved to Dallas. Robertson broke the seal before Joel L’Esperance finished a saucer pass from Justin Dowling. By the time the Panthers registered their first shot on goal 10:18 into the game, the Stars already had a 3-0 lead.

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Aleksander Barkov’s power-play goal at the end of the second period gave Florida some life, but Robertson extinguished that with his third-period tally that re-opened a three-goal lead.

Khudobin, meanwhile, made 20 saves, including big ones on the Panthers’ power play in the first period and then on Jonathan Huberdeau’s breakaway later in the game. Khudobin has now won three straight games and allowed just one goal in each.

In those three games, he has a .963 save percentage. He’s also been almost impenetrable in Nashville as a Star, going 4-1-2 with a .952 save percentage and a 1.58 goals-against average since the start of the 2018-19 season.

Bowness did not say whether Khudobin would start Sunday. “Good question. We’ll see what it looks like [Sunday],” Bowness said.

At this point, no one knows when Ben Bishop, Tyler Seguin or Alexander Radulov will play. They skated with the taxi squad on Saturday morning, but none are on track to contribute soon.

“Is anyone close to ready to step in and help us?” Bowness said. “I guess the answer to that, as of today, is no. Hopefully, that changes over the next couple of days. To give you an honest answer today, is there anyone ready to step in and play [Sunday]? No.”

The team is hopeful Jason Dickinson and Joel Hanley return soon, while Joel Kiviranta remains in a boot with the intent of skating later this week.

But the Stars know that nothing is a given this season, one affected by the coronavirus pandemic and the winter storm. The only thing they can control is what they do on the ice, and what they do on the ice against their main target, in particular.

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Saturday was important, but Sunday would be massive.

“I think it was a good test for us, and the boys stepped up and showed that we could compete with these guys for a full 60, and we’ve just got to build off that,” defenseman Jamie Oleksiak said.

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Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.