Push to the Playoffs: Where do Stars stand after beating Flames?

The Dallas Stars took another big step toward clinching a playoff spot with their 2-1 win at Calgary on Wednesday night. The Stars have won the first two games of their four-game trip, knocking off the two division leaders in the Western Conference, Winnipeg and Calgary.

OFFICIAL PLAYOFF TRACKER: [Follow the Stars' postseason push with daily matchups to watch, standings and more]
With Wednesday's victory, the Stars (40-31-6-82 points) held firm in the first wild-card position, maintaining a three-point lead over Colorado which is in the second wild-card spot and won over Vegas last night.
The Stars also extended their lead to five points over Arizona, which is third in the wild-card race and ninth in the West, and now have a seven-point lead over Minnesota, which is fourth in the wild-card race and tenth in the West. The Stars have 10-point leads over both Chicago and Edmonton, which are still alive in the playoff race, but barely.
The Stars also pulled to within four points of St. Louis for second place in the Central Division and could pull to within two of the Blues with a win in Edmonton tonight, but with two more games played.
Colorado, Arizona, Minnesota, and St. Louis all are idle tonight while the Stars can move another step closer to a playoff spot by picking up points against the Oilers.

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Stars' magic number drops to 5

The Stars' magic number dropped from seven points to five with Tuesday's win in Calgary. Any combination of five points gained by the Stars or lost by the team with the ninth-highest points potential in the West (currently Arizona) will secure a trip to the Stanley Cup Playoffs for Dallas.
If the Stars win in Edmonton Thursday, the magic number will drop to 3. If they pick up one point in an overtime or shootout loss, it will drop to four. A regulation loss and it stays at five.
The next opportunity for the Coyotes to lose points will be Friday when they play at Colorado.

Stars' playoff chances

The Stars' playoff chances obviously went up with Wednesday's win and now range between from 98.6 percent to 99.2 percent among the various sites that calculate these numbers.
- Hockeyreference.com:98.9% - Sportsclubstats.com: 99.2% - Moneypuck.com: 98.6%

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Current playoff matchups

Central Division
1-Winnipeg vs. WC1-Dallas
2-Nashville vs. 3-St. Louis
Pacific Division
1-Calgary vs. WC2-Colorado
2-San Jose vs. 3-Vegas
Both hockeyreference.com and moneypuck.com have the Stars at around a 92-point pace. That gives them a 78 percent chance of facing Winnipeg in the first round of the playoffs, according to sportsclubstats.com.
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mark Stepneski has covered the Stars for DallasStars.com since 2012. Follow him on Twitter @StarsInsideEdge.