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What Tyler Seguin's injury means for the Dallas Stars
Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin has a partial tear of his Achilles. Norm Hall/Getty Images

What Tyler Seguin's injury means for the Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars were already grasping at hanging on to the top spot in the Central Division standings before Friday’s announcement that offensive juggernaut Tyler Seguin will miss the last games of the regular season after sustaining a torn Achilles.

Admittedly, the injury isn’t as bad as it could be — a 15 percent rip, which is only expected to keep Seguin out a month. But for a team already dealing with helter-skelter goaltending and difficulty keeping the opposition off the scoreboard, losing a top center could be a massive blow.

The loss of Seguin makes the question even louder: How will the Stars fare in the final stretch of the regular season?

Sure, Seguin isn’t the only goal-scorer on the Stars — team leader Jamie Benn is still in the lineup — but his numbers play a very large role. As USA Today points out, the Stars’ league-leading 3.21 goals-per-game differential partially rides on Seguin’s 33 goals and 73 points on the season, mixed with Benn’s 36 goals in 80 points. Taking Seguin out of the equation is tough for a team that relies so heavily on offensive fire power.

The hit to the offense hurts a Dallas team that averages 2.90 goals-against per contest, ranked seventh in the league. The young defense added to an unreliable goalie tandem of Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi were already glaring problems before Seguin was sidelined. (One could also argue that the goaltending wasn’t that great earlier in the season but was covered up by the fact that Dallas was scoring upward of four goals in almost every game.) In recent consecutive losses, against St. Louis and Los Angeles respectively, the Stars’ goalies surrendered five goals a game. It’ll be hard to make a deep run in the playoffs giving the opposition so much room on the scoreboard.

Despite being atop the division with 10 games left, the Stars only sit two points ahead of the Blues and five points ahead of the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks. They sit just eight points ahead of the Nashville Predators, who currently hold the first wild card spot in the West and have gone 7-2-1 in their last 10 games.

Had the Stars been the dominant force they were at the start of the 2015-2016 campaign, perhaps the standings would seem a bit more secure. The loss of Seguin up top makes the last part of the schedule — which was already not going to be a cakewalk as it is — even more difficult. The last leg of the schedule, including rematches with the Kings, Blues and Blackhawks, plus a rough travel schedule on the West Coast, becomes even more daunting.

CBS Sports' Chris Peters summarized the scene:

The biggest reason for the Stars to fight like crazy to keep the top spot is that it would allow them to avoid a first-round date with either the physical St. Louis Blues or the vastly more experienced Chicago Blackhawks. Taking on one of the wild card teams — either the Nashville Predators or one of the Colorado Avalanche and Minnesota Wild — isn't “easy,” but it's a little more digestible. 
You can't be afraid of anyone in the playoffs, but getting a more favorable first-round matchup might allow the Stars to get a little momentum to try and make a deeper run.

A more favorable matchup would also be nice for when Seguin returns to the lineup. Dallas will have to strive for that without him on the ice until then.

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