Dallas Stars clinch top seed in Western Conference by getting to overtime against Blues

DALLAS (AP) — Jason Robertson, coach Pete DeBoer and the Central Division champion Dallas Stars took a breath when the regular-season finale was tied at the end of regulation. Their fans had been cheering throughout those closing seconds.

The Stars clinched the top seed in the Western Conference playoffs with that point they earned for getting to overtime at home against St. Louis. They added another one by winning 2-1 in a shootout Wednesday night.

“It feels like we knew what we had to do,” said Robertson, who scored the only goal in the shootout. “I mean, it’s definitely an accomplishment you should be proud of.”

The last time Dallas was the top seed in the West was 2016, also the year of its previous Central Division title. The Stars (52-21-9) finished with 113 points, the most since their franchise-record 114 in 1998-99 on the way to winning their only Stanley Cup title. They were one win shy of the record 53 set in 2005-06.

Pacific Division champion Vancouver, which would have held a tiebreaker over Dallas, can only reach 111 points with a victory in its regular-season finale Thursday night.

“Once we knew we had the point and the conference clinched, you can relax a little bit,” DeBoer said. “But I think it was important to our group to win the last game. I think we wanted to earn it, and we did that all year. It's a lot of points, 113 points.”

Just one fewer than the New York Rangers, who finished with the most in the NHL to win the Presidents' Trophy.

Stars goalie Jake Oettinger made 26 saves in regulation and overtime before stopping all three Blues attempts in the shootout. Robertson, the first shooter, used a nifty backhand to put the puck past Jordan Binnington, who stopped 36 shots.

“I knew we got the point that we needed to in overtime, so in the shootout just trying to do something crazy,” Robertson said. “I'm just having fun out there.”

Dallas won 12 of its last 14 games in the regular season, and Oettinger allowed two goals or less in 10 of his last 11 starts.

The Stars will play either reigning Stanley Cup champion Vegas (98 points) or the Kings (97 points) in the first round of the playoffs. Both have home games Thursday night to finish the regular season. One of them will finish third in the Pacific Division and the other will be a wild card headed to Dallas, where the Golden Knights last season wrapped up the Western Conference Final with a Game 6 victory.

The Stars will have home-ice advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs after a hard-fought win over the Blues, who had already been eliminated from playoff contention.

“It's good. It's great,” said Mason Marchment, who scored Dallas' only goal in regulation on a sweeping shot in front with 14:49 left in the third period.

“It was an interesting game. I mean, those aren’t easy games to play. And give St. Louis credit, they didn’t mail it in. They showed up and played hard, and Binnington was outstanding,” DeBoer said. “They made us earn it. So I’m glad it’s that kind of game. ... You want to play competitive games down the stretch going into the playoffs, and we’ve had a bunch of them.”

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) blocks a shot by St. Louis Blues' Robert Thomas (18) during the shootout in an NHL hockey game in Dallas, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Dallas Stars left wing Mason Marchment (27) celebrates after scoring against the St. Louis Blues during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Dallas, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

The Dallas Stars celebrate after the team's 2-1 win in a shootout against the St. Louis Blues in an NHL hockey game Wednesday, April 17, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Dallas Stars left wing Jason Robertson scores against St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington during the shootout in an NHL hockey game in Dallas, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. The Stars won 2-1. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington (50) blocks a shot by Dallas Stars' Jason Robertson (21) as Blues' Tyler Tucker (75) and Marco Scandella (6) help defend on the play during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Dallas, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger blocks a St. Louis Blues shot during the second period of an NHL hockey game in Dallas, Wednesday, April 17, 2024. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked Tennessee from enforcing a law banning adults from helping minors get an abortion without parental permission.

In a 49-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger argued that the Republican-controlled state cannot “make it a crime to communicate freely” about legal abortion options even in a state where abortion is banned at all stages of pregnancy except for a handful of situations. Trauger's decision means that the law will be placed on hold as the case make its way through court.

“The Tennessee General Assembly apparently determined that, when the topic at hand is ‘abortion trafficking,’ the best interests of the pregnant child are not merely a secondary consideration, but unworthy of particularized consideration at all,” Trauger wrote.

Earlier this year, Tennessee’s Republican lawmakers and GOP Gov. Bill Lee signed off on a proposal making it illegal for an adult who “intentionally recruits, harbors, or transports” a pregnant child or teen within the state to get an abortion without consent from the minor’s parents or guardians. Those convicted of breaking the law risked being charged with a Class A misdemeanor, which requires a nearly one-year jail sentence.

The law, which went into effect July 1, did not contain exemptions for minors who may have been raped by their parents or guardians. Instead, the statute dictated that biological fathers who cause the pregnancy of their daughters, if minors, couldn't pursue legal actions.

The Tennessee law mimicked the so-called “ abortion trafficking ” law enacted in Idaho last year, the first state to ever enact such a statute. However, a federal judge has since temporarily blocked Idaho's version as the case moves through court.

Just before the law was poised to go into effect, Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn and Nashville attorney Rachel Welty filed a lawsuit on the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that had guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion.

Behn called the Tennessee ruling a “monumental victory for free speech and the fight for abortion rights.

“This ruling doesn't just protect Tennesseans — it safeguards the freedom to discuss abortion care across state lines, ensuring that we can continue to offer support, share accurate information, and stand up for the rights of those seeking essential health care everywhere,” she said.

A spokesperson for Attorney General's office, who was fighting to get the case dismissed, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Friday's ruling.

Trauger's decision sided with Welty and Behn's argument that the Tennessee law was "unconstitutionally vague,” specifically stressing that the word “recruits” is undefined in the statute.

Trauger also raised several First Amendment concerns in her explanation that her ruling would apply across the state, not just to Welty and Behn.

“The freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment is not simply a special protection that the Constitution grants to a few, high-profile speakers so that those speakers can hear themselves talk; it is a protection available to everyone, for the interconnected benefit of everyone, because messages do not gain their fullest power by being uttered, but by being spread,” Trauger wrote.

Tennessee bans abortions at all stages of pregnancy, but there are exemptions in cases of molar pregnancies, ectopic pregnancies, and to remove a miscarriage or to save the life of the mother. Notably, doctors must use their “reasonable medical” judgment — a term that some say is too vague and can be challenged by fellow medical officials — in deciding whether providing the procedure can save the life of the pregnant patient or prevent major injury.

A group of women is currently suing in a separate case to clarify the state’s abortion ban. A court decision is expected soon on whether the lawsuit can continue or if Tennessee's abortion ban can be placed on hold as the legal battle continues.

FILE - An. Abortion rights demonstrator holds a sign during a rally on May 14, 2022, in Chattanooga, Tenn. (AP Photo/Ben Margot, File)