The Dallas Stars thought they addressed their big area of weakness, goaltending, in the offseason, but shaky play between the pipes continues to haunt the club.

The Master Plan

After his club finished next to last in team save percentage last season (.895), general manager Jim Nill decided to compliment incumbent Kari Lehtonen with the acquisition of Antti Niemi from San Jose.

At the time, Nill contended the NHL had become a two-goalie league, and that a healthy measure of competition would be beneficial for both Lehtonen and Niemi.

The GM was so confident in this philosophy that he, with the blessing of owner Tom Gaglardi, put pen to paper on a three-year, $13.5-million contract for Niemi, even with Lehtonen already signed through to the end of 2017-18 with a cap hit of $5.9 million.

Add it all up, and the Stars entered the season with a supposed 1A/1B goalie combo carrying a combined salary cap hit of $10.4 million.

Where They Stand

With 17 games remaining in the regular season, the Stars have posted a record of 38-20-7, good for a share of the Central Division lead in points along with Chicago and St. Louis.

Following a loss to Nashville on Tuesday, however, Dallas has gone 3-5-2 over the past 10 games, allowing 40 goals against over that span.

It's an ugly stretch, and it certainly hasn't helped the overall numbers posted by Lehtonen and Niemi to date.

What's boosting the Stars is their elite-level offense, which ranks first in the NHL with 209 goals, four more than Washington, albeit in three more games played.

That's all well and good, but Dallas finished last season in the second spot in terms of goals for (one behind Tampa Bay) yet failed to qualify for the playoffs after finishing the regular season with a plus-1 goal differential.

The Outlook

Based on the NHL's current playoff format, the Stars would have to beat two divisional opponents to advance to the Western Conference finals. Chicago, St. Louis, Nashville, and Minnesota have better team save percentages to date, and even Colorado's goalies - a team now on the outside looking in - have performed better than the Stars' duo.

At present, only five teams have allowed more goals than the Stars, and while the addition of the shot-blocking Kris Russell is expected to shore up the defense, the Stars' strong regular season could very well translate into a first-or second-round playoff exit if the goaltenders don't improve.

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The Minnesota Wild's scoring woes appear to be a thing of the past as John Torchetti's club matched a season-high in goals in Tuesday's 6-3 win over the Colorado Avalanche.

The two points draw the Wild even with the Avalanche at 68 points, but with a game in hand, Minnesota holds the final Western Conference wild-card spot.

Western Conference Wild Card Standings

It was just over a month ago when the Wild scored six goals over a six-game period from Jan. 9-20. The team has now scored at least five goals in five of nine games since replacing head coach Mike Yeo with Torchetti on Feb. 13.

A big part of their recent success has been the production from their third line of Erik Haula, Jason Pominville, and Nino Niederreiter. The trio combined for seven points against the Avalanche, with all three scoring breakaway goals in the first period, ending the night of Avalanche starter Semyon Varlamov.

"They want to play on both sides of the puck," Torchetti said of the line, per Michael Russo of the Star Tribune. "I think the whole team can learn from that.

"We talk a lot, on the bench, to support each other," Niederreiter added. The winger would score on an empty net in the third to help him and Pominville finish with three-point nights.

"This game was one I think everyone had marked down and wanted to win," Pominville said postgame. "And everyone responded."

Less than a minute before Niederreiter's empty-netter, Charlie Coyle scored his team-leading 21st of the year.

The Wild now have a great chance to pick up another four points with a quick two-game road trip in the East as they'll visit the league-worst Toronto Maple Leafs on Thursday before a Saturday visit with the Buffalo Sabres.

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The Colorado Avalanche were one of the most active teams Monday, making it perfectly clear they're making a push for the playoffs this season.

The Avalanche surprised many when they emerged out of nowhere to acquire forward Mikkel Boedker from the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for Alex Tanguay and prospects Conner Bleackley and Kyle Wood.

Related: Coyotes trade Boedker to Avalanche for Tanguay, 2 prospects

Moments later, they filled an important need on the blue line by landing defenseman Eric Gelinas from the New Jersey Devils for a third-round pick.

The Avalanche were certainly in an interesting position heading into Monday's trade deadline. Standing pat appeared to be a very likely option for a team not quite ready to compete with the Chicago Blackhawks, Dallas Stars, and St. Louis Blues in the Central Division this season. However, for a young core lacking big-game experience, general manager Joe Sakic evidently felt a crack at the postseason was too good to pass up.

Sitting two points up on the Minnesota Wild for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference, the aforementioned moves will certainly provide a gigantic boost for a team on the playoff bubble with just 18 games remaining in the regular season.

Adding Boedker - a pending unrestricted free agent - definitely came at a hefty price, but Sakic made it clear that a run to the postseason over the final five weeks outweighed the long-term gain Bleackley and Wood may have provided down the road.

With a very skilled young core of Nathan MacKinnon, Matt Duchene, Gabriel Landeskog, and Tyson Barrie, as well as highly touted prospects Mikko Rantanen, Mikhail Grigorenko, and Nikita Zadorov, it's evident Colorado is primed for a bright future one way or another, even without the two outgoing prospects in the mix.

Their time may not be now, and Boedker may very well walk on July 1, but playoff experience could pay major dividends later on for the team's youngsters.

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