The Dallas Stars will begin their quest for the franchise’s second Stanley Cup as the team hosts the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of its first-round playoff series at the American Airlines Center on Monday night.
The Stars finished second in the Central Division, a point behind the Colorado Avalanche and five points ahead of Minnesota to claim home ice for the series.
“We had a good regular season; did a lot of things we wanted to accomplish that set us up in a position like this to have this opportunity,” forward Joe Pavelski told the media on Monday.
Dallas is making its second consecutive playoff appearance, losing in seven games to the Calgary Flames last season.
This year, the Stars enter the playoffs on a six-game winning streak into the playoffs after amassing 100 points in a season for the first time since 2015-16, and the offseason coaching change has made a difference.
During the offseason, the Stars hired Peter DeBoer, a head coach with a long record of experience and success in the league. The move resulted in a vastly improved team that has gone from a playoff underdog to a favorite in one year.
“He delivers a great message,” explained Pavelski, who played for DeBoer in San Jose. “He has a really good understanding of what he wants to accomplish in a night from his teams. As a player, it’s been pretty clear. So now, it’s on you to go accomplish those and earn games as you go.”
One of the differences has been the offense. The Stars improved from 21st in the NHL in goals per game in the 2021- 22 season to sixth this season.
Dallas had six players score at least 20 goals this season, led by a record-setting year from forward Jason Robertson, who had 109 points on the season — the most of any player since the team moved to Dallas.
Rookie Wyatt Johnston also had a breakout season, scoring the most goals of any Dallas rookie in 14 years.
“He’s been tremendous,” Pavelski told the media when asked about Johnston. “He’s added, definitely, a depth piece for us, and there’s been nights where he’s our best player.”
Pavelski, Jamie Benn, Roope Hintz, and Tyler Seguin were also among the team’s top scorers.
Goalie Jake Oettinger enters his second NHL postseason after a regular season full of career bests. He finished with a 37-11-11 record with the seventh-best goals-against average, sixth-best save percentage, and second-most shutouts in the NHL, and he now has playoff experience.
“I think experience is critical this time of year, particularly for goaltenders,” DeBoer told reporters on Monday. “I think every time you can go through a series and learn what went right, what went wrong, how you handled adversity, [and] how you responded to the pressure, you learn something about yourself, and your team learns something about you. Jake is an elite goalie that has shown that he has the game to play at this time of year.”
With players like Pavelski, Benn, Seguin, and others, the Stars have a good mixture of veterans who have made playoff runs and young players who can learn how to approach the postseason.
“The game doesn’t change a whole lot from the regular season to this; it’s just the intensity’s up,” Pavelski acknowledged. “Everyone’s finishing checks; there’s a little bit more importance with where you’re placing pucks — those types of things. And that’s happening on both sides.”
Dallas has played one previous playoff series against Minnesota, prevailing in six games during the 2015-16 season.
The Stars went 2-2 against the Wild in the regular season.
The series starts at 8:30 p.m. CT on Monday in Dallas and continues Wednesday night at the American Airlines Center. Games 3 and 4 will be played in Minnesota, and the teams will alternate home ice for any remaining games as necessary, making a potential Game 7 a home game for Dallas.
