If, as we’re told, everything is bigger in Texas, then it’s only fitting that the biggest game in the National Hockey League’s Central Division this season will be played there Thursday night.
After 78 regular-season games, one 60-minute contest between the Winnipeg Jets and the Dallas Stars could decide a divisional winner — and with it, the spoils that come along with the banner.
For the Jets, a win Thursday in Big D would provide an almost assured path to claiming their first-ever Central title, as they would then only require one more victory, with the potential of that coming two nights later in Chicago to close the deal.
At present, the Jets lead the Central by four points over the Stars and control the levers on which way this chase for a Central championship is steered, in a race that started months ago and has seemingly come right down to the wire.
Now, what’s at stake here is not only important but potentially crucial for Winnipeg, as they would ultimately gain playoff advantages of home ice in the first two rounds, should they get that far, and avoid meeting the Colorado Avalanche – the team that knocked them out last year – in a first-round series for a second straight April.
Of course, if the Jets don’t win on Thursday, then their lead in the division would be down to two points on the Stars. And then the final three games on the regular-season docket become that much more dramatic in determining a Central Division winner.
So, in sensing the scenarios at play here, Winnipeg understands how big Thursday’s game against Dallas truly is. And fittingly, it will be held in the heart of Texas – where things, we’re told, are always bigger.