Regardless of first round opponent, Stars out to win season finale

Stars (45-30-6, 96 points) vs. Ducks (31-36-14, 76 points)

The Stars are in an interesting place Friday.
They still have a chance to move up and get seventh place in the standings, but they need to beat Anaheim and get a regulation loss from Nashville against Arizona. They also need to clear the bad feelings after blowing a three-goal lead on Wednesday. And they need to get their game in order for the playoffs.
That's a lot to consider in the regular season finale.
"Just play 60 minutes the right way, like we did for 40 minutes [last game]," Stars coach Rick Bowness said of getting a 3-0 lead on the Coyotes in the first two periods Wednesday. "We need to play 60 minutes like that. Just get into good habits. I'm not a believer in the playoffs start and you flick a switch and all of the sudden you're playing on a level. We're going to play to win this game."

Stars forward Jason Robertson said the other night was a weird feeling, as the Stars clinched a playoff bid by getting a point in the standings, but also felt terrible after losing a game they controlled. Those thoughts will be swirling around on Friday.
After all, the team will try to build off this game when it meets Colorado or Calgary in the playoffs beginning early next week.
"It's more about us and having a good game before the playoffs hit," Robertson said. "Play a full 60-minute game. That's cliché, but after the other night's performance I think that's something we need to get back to. Get stuff positive going before the playoffs."
Bowness said the carrot of getting seventh place still is out. And while Nashville has control of that, the Stars' only chance is to get two points against the Ducks.
"We want to win the game. We're going to play to win the game, absolutely," Bowness said. "We have a chance to move into seventh, Nashville is ahead of us, we want to move into seventh place."

What to watch

Four players are scheduled to play their 82nd game on Friday - a full NHL season.
The four are Jamie Benn (32), Luke Glendening (33), Ryan Suter (37) and Joe Pavelski (37). This will be the eighth season Suter's played 82 games and the seventh for Pavelski.
"I think it's not a different generation, but the old school mindset is you just battle, and you play through things," Suter said. "Not one player in this league is at 100 percent for a lot of the games. Just finding ways to manage your body and be mentally strong and tell yourself you're fine. I think that goes a long way."

Lineup update

John Klingberg will sit out to rest a lower-body issue, but will be good to go for Game 1 of the first round, according to Bowness.
Jake Oettinger will be in net for the season finale.
Here's the expected lineup:
Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski
Benn-Seguin-Gurianov
Kiviranta-Faksa-Glendening
Raffl-Namestnikov-Radulov
Suter-Heiskanen
Harley-Lindell
Hanley-Hakanpaa
Oettinger
Wedgewood

Numbers

98

Dallas can hit 98 points with a win. The Stars have accomplished that feat once in the past 14 seasons.

3

Roope Hintz is tied for seventh in the NHL with three shorthanded goals this season.

13-2-3

Dallas is 13-2-3 in its past 18 games against Anaheim, including 2-0-0 this season.

He said it

"I think every game has mattered for us, so I think we're used to it. Sometimes when you're in a situation where you know you're in the playoffs] a month in advance you might take things for granted. For us, we've been in that mindset. Low scoring games has helped us get into that mindset." *-- Suter on how the grind to make the playoffs has helped prepare Dallas for the postseason*
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This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika*.