The Stars cap one of the franchise's best seasons with a shootout victory and the Western Conference title

The Stars have said how important it is for them to play playoff hockey before the playoffs begin. On Wednesday night, they didn’t make the postseason by any means.

At home and on national television, Dallas needed just one point, either in the form of an overtime win or loss, to clinch the Western Conference regular-season title for the first time since 2015-16. Despite being eliminated days ago, division rival St. Louis didn’t let Dallas have it easy.

St. Louis forced Dallas to find its 26th victory of the year to clinch the West. That set a franchise record, surpassing the previous record set in the 2005-06 season. The game went to a penalty shootout where Jason Robertson scored on the first shot and Jake Oettinger made all three saves to secure the 2-1 victory.

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The victory secures Dallas in first place in the Western Conference heading into the postseason and sets a first-round date against the Los Angeles Kings or Vegas Golden Knights. It also confirms that Vancouver will face Nashville in the first round.

Regardless of Wednesday’s outcome, the Stars’ first-round opponent would not have been decided Wednesday night, as Vegas leads Los Angeles for third place in the Pacific Division by just one point and both teams play Thursday at night. Dallas will play the team with the second wild card, which is currently Los Angeles, as it stands.

The Stars had plenty of opportunities to take the lead early in Wednesday’s game, but were unable to capitalize on dangerous opportunities. That included captain Jamie Benn’s shot set up by Wyatt Johnston in front of an open net midway through the second half that missed wide left.

Dallas took an 8-1 shot lead midway through the first period. He also had 11 more dangerous scoring chances than St. Louis and 16 overall that night.

Oettinger kept the game scoreless early when he made one of his best saves of the year about 14 minutes into the game, diving on the power play. He made 26 in total at the start. That included an open-net stick stop in overtime.

He finally sacrificed the first goal of the game with 2:41 left in the second half. Robert Thomas scored on a wrist shot from the right point when Dallas couldn’t possess the puck and get it out of the defensive zone.

Mason Marchment tied it for Dallas early in the third period with a rebound to force overtime. Dallas had a power play late in overtime but failed to score, ultimately sending the game to a shootout where Oettinger took control. Dallas has a 4-2 record on penalties this season.

While it wasn’t easy, Dallas managed to take care of business and put itself in the best possible position to enter a challenging group in the Western Conference. His opponent will be decided on Thursday night and his first round will begin on Saturday, but it will most likely be Sunday or Monday.

Game 82 marked the end of one of the best regular seasons in franchise history. But the real season begins now.