Jake Oettinger made 28 saves and the Dallas Stars beat the Nashville Predators 5-1 on Thursday night for their seventh straight victory. Mikael Granlund, Mason Marchment, Roope Hintz and defenseman Lian Bichsel scored for Dallas.

To overtake the Winnipeg Jets and claim the Central Division crown, Stars coach Pete DeBoer admitted at practice Wednesday that his team knew it might need to win out. Already on a six-game win streak and nine-game point streak at the time,

After a lackluster performance in the first 40 minutes, the Dallas Stars (50-21-4) exploded with four goals in the third period, on their way to a 5-1 win over the Nashville Predators (27-41-8).