Does Master Yoda hold the key to the Stars' postseason destiny?

I'm a huge fan of pop culture, and at times like this, it seems appropriate to look to sayings from songs, movies and history to help guide the Stars during their most crucial stretch of the season.
Heck, you might even be able to hang a few of these as motivational signs in the dressing room.

Two Out of Three Ain't Bad: This is the title of a
great Meatloaf song
penned by one of my favorite writers, Jim Steinman. A product of the New York/New Jersey music scene, Steinman mixed Broadway with opera with a tinge of Springsteen and came up with an incredibly original sound that created some songs that will live on forever.
In addition to pretty much all of Meatloaf's music, including the iconic Bat Out of Hell album, Steinman also wrote songs for Bonnie Tyler ("
Total Eclipse of the Heart
"), Celine Dion ("
It's All Coming Back To Me Now
") and Air Supply ("
Making Love Out of Nothing At All
"). I still love "Two Out Of Three Ain't Bad" because of the wordplay and the journey Steinman takes the listener on.
"I know you're looking for a ruby in a mountain of rocks, but there ain't no Coupe de Ville hiding at the bottom of a Cracker Jack box."
That can be a pretty important lesson right now for the Stars. They have to be themselves, they have to play their game and they have to be realists. If that means playing a grinding game for 60 minutes to win 1-0, then that's what they have to do. Certainly, they want to be as aggressive as they can be, and they have to squeeze everything out of this lineup that they can. But they're also missing some key pieces, they've been handed a really tough schedule, and it would be very easy to get discouraged after losses to Carolina and Tampa Bay.
What they need to do is take things one shift at a time, play smart hockey and push for a solid finish to the end of the season.
Two out of three ain't bad for the final six, especially if one of those wins is on Saturday against Nashville.

"If they win, we're still in it because of the game in hand, but then we need some help, and we don't want to put ourselves in that position," Stars coach Rick Bowness said on Friday. "Even though we lost [Thursday night], we still have a game in hand and we still have a game with them, so we still control our own destiny. We don't want to put ourselves in a position where we have to rely on other teams to help us."
Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work: That's a quote from Thomas Edison, who was famous for his failed inventions. Edison said that he didn't see his lack of success as a bad thing, rather a step in the process.
"Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up," Edison said. "Nearly every man who develops an idea works at it up to the point it looks impossible, and then gets discouraged. That's not the place to become discouraged."
The Stars last season stumbled into the playoffs after the warm-up games and then were 15 seconds away from going down 3-1 to the Calgary Flames in the first round. However, Joe Pavelski scored to tie Game 4 and Alexander Radulov scored in overtime to tie the series, and the Stars were off on one of the most memorable playoff runs in franchise history.

It could've stopped in round one. It could've also stopped in Game 7 of the second round against Colorado. However, Joel Kiviranta scored to tie the game with under four minutes left in regulation, and then won it in overtime on a pass from Andrej Sekera. Kiviranta, who came in only because of an injury to Andrew Cogliano. Kiviranta, who was playing just his third playoff game when many teammates were on their 17th. Kiviranta, who was in Finland the year before and just hoping for a chance to make it in the AHL.

He didn't get discouraged, he kept on working, and look where he is now.
That storyline runs through this team over the past two seasons, from Kiviranta to Pavelski to Roope Hintz and Denis Gurianov and Jason Robertson. Going back to Game 4 against Calgary, the Stars scored the tying goal and then had it disallowed because of goaltender interference.
That would've sunk most teams. The Stars dug in.
Dallas has had a couple of clunkers the past two games. It would be easy to say this is too tough a hill to climb now. It would be easy to say they can't play with the best teams in the Central Division. But after finding a way to beat the Flames, this squad defeated heavily favored Colorado and Vegas in the next two rounds to make it to the Stanley Cup Final last year.
No one saw that coming at the time.
So you can't get discouraged, you simply have to try again.
"We've got to find ways to get points," said winger Blake Comeau after Thursday's loss against Tampa Bay, in which he had a key giveaway that led to the first goal. "We want to make it in the playoffs, and if we get in the playoffs we're going to have to go through some really good teams to get to where we want to be at - and that's to win the Stanley Cup."

Big dreams? Sure. But you have to have that mindset if you want to succeed.
Do. Or do not. There is no try: Ah, the wise words of Master Yoda. Delivered in the voice of Fozzie Bear, they are ironically some of the heaviest in the history of film.
Young Luke has to learn the way of the Jedi in the Empire Strikes Back and is struggling with his doubts that his mind really can move mountains. Yoda is not only teaching Luke how to become what he wants to become, but also why he is having trouble.
When Luke says he will "try" to do what Yoda is asking, the Master becomes irritated.
"Always with you what cannot be done. Hear nothing that I say?"
"You must unlearn what you have learned."
"Try not. Do. Or do not. There is no try."
It's an odd statement, especially when coupled with the words of Edison. Of course you have to try. Of course you have to fail. Of course you have to learn. So what is Yoda saying?
Believe.
That's all, truly believe that you can do it. Push the negative thoughts aside, and embrace the positive. If you get right down to it, that goes perfectly with the thoughts of Edison and Steinman. This is doable, even now, even after the past two games. This is doable, because the Stars control their own destiny. Beat the Predators on Saturday, and they still have a clear path to the playoffs.
Despite the COVID hurdle.
Despite the once-in-20-years winter storm in Texas.
Despite losing so many key players to injury.
"We know where we are, they know where they are," Bowness said Friday from Nashville. "You get to this stage and if you're not in a playoff spot, every game becomes the most important of the year. Tomorrow becomes the most important game of the year for both teams."
Do. Or do not.
It's what the season has come down to.