NHL Game Preview - Dallas at Carolina

Sat Apr 1, 2017 7:00 PM EDT

RALEIGH, N.C. -- The Carolina Hurricanes completed a stellar month of March and they're within striking distance of reaching the playoffs.

With that said, they still have to climb a little higher.

"We absolutely have a shot here to do this," defenseman Noah Hanifin said. "There's no reason we can't finish up really strong."

Carolina (35-27-14) will try to take another step on Saturday night when it faces the Dallas Stars (31-35-11) at PNC Arena.

The Hurricanes, who close a four-game homestand, are riding a franchise-record 13-game point streak (9-0-4). It has catapulted them from near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings into the hottest team in the NHL.

"You learn how to win and you learn what it takes to win and that's what it's all about this time of the year," Carolina coach Bill Peters said.

With six games remaining and 84 points, the Hurricanes are four points behind the Boston Bruins for the final wild-card spot in the East. Boston only has five games left, but the Tampa Bay Lightning have 85 points and six games remaining on their schedule.

"The guys believe and they're playing hard," Peters said. "They're playing hard for each other. ... Guys are doing what they need to do. Guys are selling out this time of year."

The Hurricanes have turned a corner, so the chance to compete in the postseason would be another way for Peters to document the development.

"I just like seeing the growth amongst our team," Peters said. "The maturity of our group and the willingness to do it right."

Carolina has scored goals late in the third period twice this week in order to guarantee they'd keep the points streak going.

"Hopefully, those bounces keep coming our way," said Hanifin, who scored in overtime Thursday night in a 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets. "I think they will."

The Stars are coming off a 2-0 loss Thursday night at Boston. Dallas has scored a total of six goals across its last five road games and managed three or more tallies in only three of their last 16 contests away from home.

"At the end of the night, it comes down to (needing) a little bit of offense," Stars coach Lindy Ruff said.

By contrast, the Hurricanes scored an NHL-high 54 goals during March.

Left winger Curtis McKenzie didn't accompany the Stars on the trip from Boston to North Carolina because he was sent to the hospital to have a cut near his eye addressed.

The Dallas lineup come be further adjusted because right winger Ales Hemsky didn't play in the third period in Boston as he deals with an undisclosed injury.

"It's something he has been fighting through for a couple of months now," Ruff said.

The Stars won just six of 14 games in March and that wasn't good enough to keep them in playoff contention in the Western Conference.

This will be the fourth stop on a five-game road trip for the Stars, who are 1-2-0 so far during this stretch.