Articles in Dallas Stars

from Adam Hill of the Las Vegas Review-Journal,

There was a prevailing narrative when Adin Hill took over at goalie for the Golden Knights about how his role was to just not screw things up for a team with the structure in place to make a run at the Stanley Cup.

That the job of the journeyman backup suddenly thrust into starting duties for a championship favorite was to not be solely responsible for derailing those aspirations.

Hill has rejected that storyline with similar confidence and authority to the many shots he has turned away off the sticks of the Oilers and Stars in the past two weeks

The Knights are in position to advance to the Stanley Cup Final with a Game 6 victory Monday over the Stars at American Airlines Center largely because of his efforts, not despite them.

Now they might need even more from a player who has chosen a good time to play at such a high level, leading a postseason run in his first playoff appearance just as he’s about to hit free agency.

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from Taylor Baird at NHL.com,

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

It is easy to say – because it’s logical to project – that there’s no way the Dallas Stars are actually going to win four straight games to save their season against the Vegas Golden Knights.

This conclusion isn’t because the Stars aren’t an excellent team. They are. But so are the Knights.

It’s more math than emotion: only four teams in National Hockey League history have rallied from a 0-3 deficit to win a playoff series, and it has never happened in a conference final, where teams that win the first three games are 46-0 in advancing to the Stanley Cup Final.

The Golden Knights, a 51-win team that had 111 points in the regular season, aren’t going to lose four straight playoff games after losing only three times in the first month of the Stanley Cup tournament.

This Stars’ comeback almost certainly is not happening despite Dallas’ impressive 4-2 road win Saturday in Las Vegas.

But the fantastic thing about sports is that you actually have to play the games.

And ask yourself this: Can the Dallas Stars win two consecutive games? Because that’s all they have to do now after halting the Knights and stealing momentum by winning Games 4 and 5 in the Western Conference Final.

The Stars no longer have to climb Mt. Everest. They just have to get up the Eiger.

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Game highlights are below.

from Ed Graney of the Las Vegas Review-Journal,

They knew how hard the push would be, how desperation has this way of lifting a team’s level of play. There would be no celebration for the Golden Knights on Thursday night, no Western Conference title just yet, no Clarence S. Campbell Bowl to take pictures around.

It’s still going, folks.

Dallas apparently has something left in its pursuit of what would be a historic comeback, the Stars having avoided being swept out of this best-of-seven series with a 3-2 overtime victory before a sellout gathering of 18,532 at American Airlines Center.

It was the best we have seen of Dallas in four games.

Certainly when it mattered most.

“Our effort level wasn’t good enough,” Knights forward Jonathan Marchessault said. “Just not good enough for our group. It’s still in overtime, so it was right there for us. They played well defensively. Their desperation was higher than ours, and at this time of year, it’s about who wants it more.”

It’s true, after all: The fourth one is always toughest to get.

read on

NEW YORK (May 24, 2023) – Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn has been suspended for two games for cross-checking Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone during Game 3 of the Western Conference Final in Dallas on Tuesday, May 23, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.

If the term of the suspension is not fully served during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the remaining game will be served at the beginning of the 2023-24 regular season.

The incident occurred at 1:42 of the first period. Benn was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct for cross-checking.

Video is below.

NEW YORK (May 24, 2023) – Dallas Stars forward Max Domi has been fined $5,000, the maximum allowable under the Collective Bargaining Agreement, for slashing Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone during Game 3 of the Western Conference Final in Dallas on Tuesday, May 23, the National Hockey League’s Department of Player Safety announced today.

The incident occurred at 18:09 of the third period.

The money goes to the Players’ Emergency Assistance Fund.

Watch the incident below.

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

When the Vegas Golden Knights scored their second overtime winner in as many games, it looked Sunday that they’d not only beaten the Dallas Stars again but might have broken them, too.

It wasn’t simply that the Knights went up 2-0 in the National Hockey League’s Western Conference Final when Chandler Stephenson scored uncontested on a rebound at 1:12 of overtime to give his team a 3-2 win on home ice.

And it wasn't even that the Stars, who were lucky to make it to OT in Friday’s 4-3 Vegas win, were significantly better in Game 2 and appeared to have Sunday’s tight-checking contest under control until Jonathan Marchessault snatched a tying goal for the Knights with 2:22 remaining in regulation time.

The seismic shift for Dallas is that the unflinching Stars beat themselves, displaying vulnerability on a team that looked largely invincible this season when leading into the third period and bouncing back from losses.

The Stars had been 31-0-2 this season — and 8-0 in the playoffs — when leading with 20 minutes to go and, even more incredibly, were 22-1-3 since October with starting goalie Jake Oettinger when coming off a loss.

The Knights shattered that invincibility on Sunday.

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Vegas will head to Dallas up 2-0 after a 3-2 overtime win today.

In my mind the Stars were the better team during the majority of the game but the Golden Knights were able to capitalize on their limited opportunities.

Team Stats

Below watch the game winning goal and the game highlights.

via the NHL PR department,

STARS IN FAMILIAR PLACE, LOOK TO EVEN SERIES SUNDAY AFTERNOON
Game 2 of the Western Conference Final is set for Sunday afternoon on ABC and ESPN+ in the U.S. as well as Sportsnet, CBC and TVA Sports in Canada. The Stars will look to rally from a 1-0 series deficit for the third consecutive round, while the Golden Knights aim to take a 2-0 lead for the third time in franchise history – they have gone on to win the series in the two times they have done so to date.

broadcast information is below

from Ben Gotz of the Las Vegas Review-Journal,

Bruce Cassidy pumped his fist on the bench as the announced crowd of 18,271 at T-Mobile Arena went wild and Brett Howden and Adin Hill were mobbed on separate areas of the ice.

The Golden Knights coach has described his group as “imperfect” at different times during the playoffs. They’re not without faults. What they are is deep, resilient and committed to winning hockey games by any mean.

That continued in Game 1 of the Western Conference Final against the Dallas Stars on Friday. The Knights allowed the first goal for the ninth time in 12 postseason games. They blew two third-period leads. They still emerged with a 4-3 victory after Howden’s goal 1:35 into overtime.

The Knights continued to stare adversity in the face and fire right back. Their six comeback wins in the playoffs lead the NHL, and they’re 2-0 in overtime.

“Sometimes you have those seasons where you don’t overcome things,” Cassidy said. “We have that group that will this year.”

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Watch the game highlights below.

from Jesse Granger and Saad Yousuf of The Athletic,

When the puck drops for Game 1 of the Western Conference finals between Vegas and Dallas on Friday night at T-Mobile Arena, Stars coach Pete DeBoer will find himself in an oddly familiar role as he takes his place on the visitors bench.

It wasn’t that long ago he stood behind the opposite bench in that arena, wearing a Golden Knights lapel. It also hasn’t been that long since he coached against Vegas in the playoffs.

DeBoer’s history with the Golden Knights is long and complicated.

It started as a rivalry in 2017, when the upstart Vegas franchise quickly emerged as an adversary for DeBoer’s Sharks atop the Pacific Division. San Jose was an aging but talented group looking for a title before its window closed. The Golden Knights came out of nowhere to win the series.

Playoff matchups in back-to-back seasons stoked that rivalry, culminating with a fiery seven-game series in 2019 in which DeBoer and then-Vegas coach Gerard Gallant traded verbal barbs that were nearly as fierce as the play on the ice. DeBoer came out on top in the most dramatic way possible, with San Jose erasing a three-goal deficit late in the third period to win in overtime.

Less than nine months later, DeBoer was coaching the Golden Knights.

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from Amalie Benjamin of the NHL's website,

These are four teams that don't always get the headlines and the publicity, that don't come from traditional hockey markets, that have everything to gain from the spot in which they find themselves, here in the Eastern and Western Conference Finals. Combined, the Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, Dallas Stars and Vegas Golden Knights have won the Stanley Cup twice, with the Hurricanes winning it in 2006 and the Stars in 1999.

They will begin the next step of trying to make some new history -- and some new fans -- when they start off the conference finals, with the Panthers and Hurricanes playing Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Final on Thursday at PNC Arena in Raleigh (8 p.m. ET; TNT, CBC, TVAS, SN) and the Stars and Golden Knights playing Game 1 of the Western Conference Final on Friday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (8:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, ESPN+, CBC, TVAS, SN).

"A deeper playoff run will draw attention to the unique players that we have that you can come and enjoy watching play," Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. "What happens in these runs, it's not just about getting excited because of the spectacle of playoff hockey. You want to get the connection to the home crowd too.

"There'll be a whole bunch of people who are going to buy (Panthers forward) Sam Bennett jerseys based on what they saw. And then I can say that about a bunch of different guys."

read on

from Marc Engel of the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram,

Much like their first round series against Minnesota, the Stars moved on against Seattle for the same reason. They’re the better team.

The Game 7 victory they celebrated on Monday night was was won years ago. Not on the ice. In the front office.

It was won by Stars GM Jim Nill, and team owner Tom Gaglardi for giving him the space, money, and time to build a team that can win the Stanley Cup.

Drafting and developing young players like starting goalie Jake Oettinger.

Drafting Heiskanen, who is one of the NHL’s top defenseman. Drafting forward Wyatt Johnston, a first round pick in 2021 who scored the Stars second goal on Monday night.

"That was definitely one of the better birthday gifts,” said Johnson, who did score the goal on his birthday. He looks 13, and ... he may actually be 13. (He’s 20).

Drafting winger Jason Robertson, who has struggled to score goals this postseason but has contributed more offense than he’s been given credit.

more on the Stars...

Dallas defeated the Seattle Kraken 2-1 tonight to win their series 4-3.

The Stars will face the Vegas Golden Knights beginning Friday night.

Below watch the game highlights and then the handshakes.

NEW YORK (May 14, 2023) – The Dallas Stars and Seattle Kraken will contest Game 7 of their Second Round series on Monday, May 15 at American Airlines Center in Dallas. The winner will advance to the Western Conference Final to face the winner of the Vegas Golden Knights-Edmonton Oilers series.

National rightsholders ESPN (U.S.), Sportsnet (Canada) and TVAS (Canada) will broadcast Monday's game, beginning at 8 p.m., ET.

from Iain MacxIntyre of Sportsnet,

For hockey teams, a high floor is nice. But a high ceiling is better.

The Seattle Kraken have a high floor. Their talent is balanced, their effort and mindset uniform and consistent. But in terms of players, they haven’t yet built a high ceiling. The Dallas Stars have a soaring, vaulted canopy — pushed skyward by a showpiece top line of Roope Hintz, Jason Robertson and Joe Pavelski.

On Thursday, with the Kraken and Stars tied 2-2 in their National Hockey League playoff series, Seattle was probably the better team. Certainly, they were the dominant one in the first half of Game 5 in Dallas. But the Kraken have no line that can elevate like Hintz, Robertson and Pavelski, who generated two early goals against the run of play and then manufactured the third-period clincher as the Stars won 5-2 to move within one game of the Western Conference Final.

Hintz scored twice and assisted on Pavelski’s goal that made it 3-0 for Dallas 35 seconds into the middle period, moving into a tie with the Edmonton Oilers' Leon Draisaitl for the Stanley Cup Playoffs scoring lead at 18 points through 12 games. And Robertson, the 46-goal scorer from the regular season whose lack of impact through the first three games of the series was concerning, had three assists to make it an eight-point night for the Stars’ No. 1 line.

Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger, pulled in Game 3 as the Kraken took a 2-1 series lead, stopped 29 of 31 shots and looks again like the best goalie still butterflying in the playoffs.

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from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

The Seattle Kraken are all energy — until they have none. The Dallas Stars look vulnerable — and then they don’t.

This carnival ride of a second-round National Hockey League playoff series is even through four games after the Stars won 6-3 Tuesday in Seattle, one game after getting embarrassed 7-2 by the Kraken.

Game 5 is Thursday in Dallas and, after the eight-goal swing, we’re out of predictions.

With a chance to ride momentum and seize a 3-1 series lead on home ice, the Kraken displayed only a fraction of the energy of their fans, delighted by playoff hockey in just the franchise’s second season.

So fast and physical when they’re on, the Kraken inexplicably switched off through the first two periods Tuesday, managing only 10 shots on net while falling behind 4-0 and 5-1. Maybe it wasn’t quite inexplicable; the sturdy Stars and their experienced veteran leaders had a lot to do with it.

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The game highlights are below.

from Matt Calkins of the Seattle Times,

his ain’t no fairy tale. This is the Kraken kickin’ tail.

Don’t talk about pixie dust like Seattle has Tinkerbell on its side. The only bells involved are the opponents getting theirs rung.

Cinderella? No. You’re watching the stepsisters out there — bullying and bruising these so called “favorites” the sportsbooks picked to roll over this fledgling franchise.

The Kraken’s 7-2 win over Dallas in Game 3 on Sunday night might have prompted a celebration from their fans — but what it really was a declaration. Or in the players’ minds, a confirmation: that they not only belong with the best teams in the league but should be as feared as any other team remaining in these playoffs.

Look at their postseason résumé: They began by knocking out the defending Stanley Cup champion Avalanche in seven games in the first round. And this wasn’t a Colorado team hung over from reaching the NHL summit the previous June, but one that won the Central Division with 109 points.

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Watch the game highlights below.

from Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet,

Until they eliminated the Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche on Sunday, the Seattle Kraken's most incredible accomplishment this season was constructing a 100-point campaign despite some of the poorest goaltending in the National Hockey League.

Starting goalie Philipp Grubauer’s .895 save percentage ranked 40^th among 52 goalies in the league who logged at least 25 games. One of the 12 guys behind him was Kraken teammate Martin Jones, whose .887 save rate was 48^th.

But the sub-par goaltending was evidence of how strong the Kraken actually were as a team. They outscored opponents by 49 goals at five-on-five and profiled as an elite team at even-strength. And now that Grubauer is giving them excellent playoff goaltending, the Kraken are playing like an elite team.

It was Dallas Star Joe Pavelski’s night on Tuesday when he scored four times, but it was still the Kraken’s game as the second-year team won 5-4 on Yanni Gourde’s overtime goal to take a 1-0 lead in the teams’ Western Conference semi-final.

It was Seattle’s fourth win in five games since the Kraken took over their first-round series against the Avalanche.

Seattle scored 18 times in that seven-game win and the Kraken got goals from 15 players, which says everything you need to know about coach Dave Hakstol’s team. On Tuesday, five different players scored: Gourde, Jordan Eberle, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Justin Schultz and Jaden Schwartz.

And while Gourde’s winner at 12:17 of OT was opportunistic, as the two-time Cup winner with the Tampa Bay Lightning spun and fired a standing puck over Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger’s shoulder from a sharp angle after Gourde’s attempted pass bounced back to him off Star Wyatt Johnston, there was nothing lucky about Seattle’s win.

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Watch the highlights below.

The Stars will face the winner of Avalanche/Kraken series.

Below watch handshakes and highlights.

from John Shipley of the PioneerPress,

There is no question the on-ice officiating crew at Xcel Energy Center called Game 4 of the Wild’s best-of-seven series against Dallas differently than they called the first three games.

Remember when Matt Dumba sent Joe Pavelski to the doctor in Game 1? The Wild defenseman got a head of steam on the veteran center and sent him tail over teakettle. Pavelski hasn’t played since, and while Dumba was assessed 2 minutes for roughing, that hit seems like a lot more than a week ago after Sunday.

For the on-ice crew, and maybe the suits in New York and Toronto, this became a different series on Sunday and it favored the Stars, who escaped the X with a 3-2 victory and sent the best-of-seven series back to Texas tied 2-2.

“I just feel like it’s a little bit chintzy right now. It doesn’t make any sense,” Wild winger Marcus Foligno said. “This is playoff hockey. You go and hit a guy and it’s not illegal. It’s clean and you’re getting called to the penalty box.”

Stars coach Peter DeBoer made a few headlines after his team’s 7-3 victory in Game 2 at Americans Airlines center by making it a point to mention the Wild’s proclivity for penalties — sixth in NHL during the regular season — and trying to set a tone for the officiating. Wild coach Dean Evason countered that Dallas was taking dives but that didn’t have any legs.

“I don’t know,” Foligno said. “I think in that sense maybe they got to (the refs) before we did.”

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