Stars Return to Playoffs with a New Look, but the Same Goal

The final weekend of March had arrived, and that meant the playoff picture would really start to come together. Two teams punched tickets so far, leaving 14 total spots left in the NHL's Sweet 16, very fitting considering this weekend featured the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 in college basketball. The team looking to get in: the Dallas Stars, who were part of the last game to start in a typical loaded hockey Saturday.

In quite an odd bit of scheduling, the Stars were in Seattle for back-to-back games against the now-eliminated Kraken. They did need help, and they would get it from the Edmonton Oilers, who defeated the Calgary Flames. However, because the Flames' loss was in OT, Dallas needed to win. Boy, did they. The Kraken scored first, but Dallas scored the next five goals to blast Seattle, reach the 100 point mark (joining the Washington Capitals and Winnipeg Jets in that club), and also lock in a spot in this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Stars are still looking for their second Stanley Cup; the one from 1999 is getting pretty lonely. This appearance continues their impressive run; this is their fourth straight playoff appearance, and their sixth in the last seven years. The run began in 2019 as one of the West's two Wild Cards, and it saw them fall one win short of reaching the Western Conference Final. 2020 actually saw them reach the Stanley Cup Final in the Edmonton bubble, but they would miss the playoffs in the following year. 2022 was the year where their were ousted in Game 7 overtime again, the now emotional Game 7 goal by the late, great Johnny Gaudreau, but the last two years have been good to them. In each of the last two seasons, the Stars reached the Western Conference Final. So while this stretch hasn't resulted in a Cup, and does have a postseason miss, it has been fruitful.

Regarding players, there's one I want to talk about. He used to be with the Avalanche, and his exit from the team was a bit on the controversial side.

Thought I was going to say Mikko Rantanen, didn't you? While I will address Moose, I want to talk about Matt Duchene, because it doesn't seem like anyone else is. Jason Robertson is definitely getting a lot of talk. After all, he's leading the team in points with 75, with 33 of those points being goals. However, Duchene is right behind him, quietly having quite the season for Dallas. 28 goals, 46 assists, 74 points total, only one less than Robertson. Two more of their usual suspects, Wyatt Johnston and Roope Hintz, have been delivering, but another one, Miro Heiskanen, has been sidelined since being on the receiving end of a dirty hit by Mark Stone. The story remains that Heiskanen may be out for the entire first round.

Jake Oettinger has been lighting it up per usual, going 35-15-3 with a .911 SV%, a 2.47 GAA, and a pair of shutouts. I still remember his Game 7 performance in 2022: 64 saves, but lost because Dallas couldn't piece three shots together. The Stars are not messing around. Hell, they got Mikko Rantanen in the deadline. 11 points in 11 games with Dallas so far. Like I said--this team is not messing around. A series against the Avs appears to be inevitable, but again, I'm not nervous. I'll save that for another story. For now, the Stars are playoff bound once again, they have a slight outside shot at finishing first in the Central, but again, it does look like they'll be seeing MacKinnon and Makar in Round 1, and that's going to be quite delicious.