Texas faces Chicago twice to end a madcap week of four games in six days across three cities. It’s the last pair of games before the All-Star Break where Joel L’Esperance will represent the Stars in Ontario.


Is it still too early in the season to have a critical weekend for playoff positioning?

Stephen Meserve: It wouldn’t seem so if you look at the standings and this weekend’s opponent. The Stars own fourth place in the Central by points, but actually have a slim lead on Chicago in percentage. It’s the slimmest lead that can be had in the AHL, one-thousandth of a point. Either way, it’s unlikely that the Wolves and Stars will emerge from the weekend with the same separation in the standings. With a big weekend, the Stars can pass Chicago and cement third place at the All-Star Break. They’ve still got games in hand on everyone around them to boot. If Texas can generate some separation (watch out for a surging Grand Rapids), then they could be in pole position to get that 2-3 matchup wit…