Despite Idle Day, Texas Now In First Place Thanks to Heat Loss

Matej Stransky and Brendan Ranford (Credit: Christina Shapiro/Texas Stars)
Despite not playing a game today, the Texas Stars managed to slip into first place in the Western Conference this Sunday afternoon.

Thanks to last night's win against Charlotte, Texas pulled into a tie with the then conference leading Abbotsford Heat at 71 points. Abbotsford held the top spot though as they had played fewer games to get to that total. The Heat played the Wolves this afternoon and lost in regulation, keeping them at 71 points with the Stars and evening the games played to 55 for both clubs.

The first tie breaker in head-to-head is ROW, or regulation plus overtime wins. This works out pretty well for Texas, which has gone to a shootout far less than the Heat, only tallying two shootout wins among their 32 wins. Abbotsford has five shootout wins though. Texas's ROW is 30 while Abbotsford's is 28.

This is a big week for the Stars now. Abbotsford doesn't play again until Friday when they start an eight-game homestand with two games against the Griffins. Texas has games on Tuesday and Wednesday at Lake Erie, potentially allowing them to gain a four point advantage on the Heat for first place in the conference.

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