The Dallas Stars have reached the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2020 after eliminating the Seattle Kraken in Game 7 on Monday at the American Airlines Center.
The win was the first Game 7 victory on home ice for Dallas in 23 years and the first overall since 2020, both coming against the Colorado Avalanche.
“It was our best game of the playoffs,” Coach Pete DeBoer told the media after the win. “I knew our group would respond like they have all year. Individually and collectively as a team, they didn’t disappoint.”
Forward Roope Hintz broke a scoreless tie in the second period, and rookie Wyatt Johnston added his second series-clinching goal of the playoffs, beating the Seattle defense to a puck bouncing off the boards and finessing it over the shoulder of Philipp Grubauer with 7:12 to go in the game.
“I don’t know how many players would think about doing that, nevermind pull it off and score like that on that play,” DeBoer said when asked about Johnston’s goal. “It’s a world-class play by one of the youngest players in the league. I can’t say enough about him. He’s been fantastic all year. He’s a big part of our group, and it feels like the deeper we get, the more responsibility he wants.”
With the win, DeBoer moves to 7-0 all-time as a head coach in Game 7s. While the coach refuses to take the credit, his goalie believes his demeanor is a big reason for his success.
“If your coach is back there freaking out and hitting the panic button every time you lose, I think that trickles down into the group,” Jake Oettinger told the media. “He believes in this group of guys. If we do what he’s teaching us and what we do as a group, he believes we can win the cup. The belief starts and ends with him, and his demeanor trickles down into the whole group.”
“It’s not shocking that he’s had success, and I think a lot of that has to do with his calmness and his belief in this group,” Oettinger concluded.
While DeBoer acknowledges his success, he knows his team still has work to do to reach its ultimate goal.
“Let’s be honest; we didn’t win anything tonight,” he told the media after the win. “We advanced. We’ve still got a long way to go, and we’ve got a big test coming next.”
That test comes in the form of one of DeBoer’s former clubs, the Vegas Golden Knights.
DeBoer was fired by Vegas last May after three seasons with the team and becoming the first coach in franchise history to miss the playoffs.
“There’s no hiding from the fact that it means a little more obviously,” DeBoer said as he met with the media Tuesday morning. “That would be for anybody in this situation. This happens all the time in the world — you move on from a job, and you go to the next job — except now we’re playing each other in the conference finals immediately after.”
This year, Vegas won the Western Conference with a 51-22-9 regular-season record, breezed past the Winnipeg Jets in five games during round one, and eliminated the Edmonton Oilers to reach the Western Conference Finals for the third time in its five-year existence as a franchise.
“They’ve had a hell of a year,” DeBoer acknowledged when asked about his former team Tuesday. “Butch [Head Coach Bruce Cassidy] has done a great job, and it should be a great series.”
Dallas and Vegas are the last two teams standing in the Western Conference, while the Florida Panthers and the Carolina Hurricanes remain in the Eastern Conference. The winners of each series will represent their respective conferences in the Stanley Cup Finals.
“There’s only four teams left, so we might as well take a shot at it,” DeBoer remarked of his team’s chances after the win. “…You’re not near the finish line, but you can see it somewhere down the road there. It’s definitely closer than it was a week ago. That’s what we’re here for, and that’s the goal, but we’ve got a gigantic test here.”
The Stars and Golden Knights will begin their best-of-seven series in Las Vegas at 7 p.m. CT Friday. Games 3 and 4 will be in Dallas next Tuesday and Thursday, May 23 and May 25.