No celebration yet as Stars shut out by Jets, remain one win away from division clinch

The stage was set for the Stars to have a night to remember Thursday.

Facing the Winnipeg Jets, a division rival that they had beaten three times already this season, the Stars needed just one more win to clinch their first Central Division title since 2015-16.

The New York Rangers had also lost their game to the Philadelphia Flyers earlier in the night, opening the door for the Stars to take over first in the Presidents’ Trophy race for the first time this season.

While all the variables lined up for the Stars entering their matchup with the Jets, Dallas couldn’t take care of the one thing it could control.

The Stars suffered their third shutout loss of the season by a 3-0 finish against the Jets on home ice, losing their first game against the divisional foe this year. Dallas struggled to possess the puck all game and was stifled by Winnipeg’s elite defense, as the Jets scored first and were able to settle into their game.

With the loss, Dallas still leads the Central Division by five points, but Colorado has a game in hand, so the Stars will need to win one of their last two games to clinch the title. They also lead the Western Conference by four points but will now need to win out to guarantee the title.

Winnipeg is one of the NHL’s best defensive teams, and it showed at the American Airlines Center Thursday. They held Dallas well below their average of 2.47 goals allowed per game, which ranks second in the NHL. Former Stars head coach Rick Bowness now leads their group and is known for his defense-first style.

“I recognize a lot of that system for sure. Disciplined team,” Stars forward Tyler Seguin said. “When they can score first or two, they can really get in that system.”

But the Jets managed to play their game without their best player — Vezina frontrunner Connor Hellebuyck — who was resting for Saturday’s game against Colorado, which could decide home ice advantage for the first round.

Backup Lauren Brossoit put up a standout performance and recorded his third shutout of the season.

The Stars looked out-of-sync all game and had just seven high-danger scoring chances to Winnipeg’s nine.

Even when they did have chances, luck wasn’t in their favor. A breakaway by Logan Stankoven and Wyatt Johnston early in the second period was stopped by a penalty for Winnipeg dislodging the goal. Another shot by Johnston with 52.8 seconds left in the same period hit off the post, then Brossoit’s back but somehow still didn’t go in.

On the other end, Winnipeg found a goal in each period. The first was by Nikolaj Ehlers on a backhand, as Jake Oettinger was recovering from a previous save. The second was on a deflection by David Gustafsson. The third was an empty netter by Mark Scheifele.

Neither of the first two goals were Oettinger’s fault, but he didn’t receive much support defensively.

Pete DeBoer shifted the defensive pairings throughout the game, largely because 23-year-old Swedish defenseman Nils Lundkvist played just 8:44 in the contest. Ryan Suter had the next fewest minutes by a defenseman with 16:28.

“It’s that time of year. It’s not equal ice time,” DeBoer said of Lundkvist. “You’ve got to make decisions to win hockey games. Coaches have to make tough decisions.”

Dallas will hope Thursday’s performance was one they needed to get out of their system before the playoffs begin. But with just two regular-season games remaining, the window is closing to keep their destiny in their own hands.

“You have to have perspective,” DeBoer said. “We’ve been on a really good run here for a long time. Tonight, even though we’re off, we didn’t beat ourselves. They got a couple bounces around the net. We just didn’t work hard enough to get another one.”

Iced: See photos as Stars are shut out by Winnipeg Jets

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