When the Dallas Stars dropped a 3-1 game to the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday night, there was no sense of immediate panic.
Sure, it was only the Stars’ third regulation loss in the month of March and they had somehow come up empty-handed even after following their usual winning game plan. And yes, the Avalanche had fought their way back into the playoff picture with a desperate victory.
But when it came to the bigger picture, there wasn’t a reason to panic. After all, Dallas was still four points ahead of the second wild card spot in the West and four points from the playoff wall.