What Went Wrong: Stars Lose West Final, but Go Down Swinging

With the Eastern Conference Final ending in a four game sweep, the spotlight turned to the Western Conference Final between the Dallas Stars and the Vegas Golden Knights. It looked like we would get the same outcome, as Vegas was up 3-0, and a sweep was a foregone conclusion. However, Dallas managed to win Game Four in overtime, but you know how that goes. The team down 3-0 wins Game Four: "Well, at least they won't get swept. Yet the Stars won Game Five. Now, it's serious. Now it could be possible for them to pull off the reverse sweep. After all, they were back at home for Game Six, and home ice is always an advantage...except when it's not.

Dallas was soundly trounced in Game Six. The game was over after the first period, which saw the Stars down 3-0. At that point, I gave up any hopes of Dallas staying alive, and the Stars went on to lose 6-0. The Stars were badly dominated in that game, and they had no answers for Adin Hill. In addition, this was the game that Stars captain Jamie Benn returned from his two-game suspension, yet while Dallas won the two games they played without him, they lost in Benn's return.

The only thing that went wrong for Dallas was that Vegas was simply too much for them. However, they didn't go down without a fight. They made the West Final interesting with their victories in Games Four and Five, but Game Six saw them completely run out of gas.

Roope Hintz led the team in this year's playoffs, scoring 10 goals and racking up 14 assists for a grand total of 24 points. Jason Robertson, who is high on my Fantasy Wish List for next season, was close behind with 18 points (7 G/11 A), but the player I want to talk about is Joe Pavelski. It can be said that Pavelski's one of the best current players in the league to have never won the Stanley Cup, and because he played a vast amount of years with the San Jose Sharks, he never really had a lot of chances. His NHL debut came in the 2006-07 season, but he wouldn't reach the Stanley Cup Final until his 10th season in the league. Pavelski would sign with Dallas in the 2019-20 season, which saw him in the Cup Final during that run in the bubble.

Regarding this year, Pavelski had 14 points, with nine of them being goals. Of the nine goals Pavelski scored, eight of them came in the Central Division Final against the Seattle Kraken, with four of the eight being scored in Game One of that series. Dallas' Game Six elimination leaves Pavelski empty-handed for another season, and he'll turn 39 during this upcoming offseason. Next season will be Pavelski's last before he becomes an unrestricted free agent, and he'll turn 40 after next season ends.

As for the Stars, they really should be proud of this season. This was their longest run since the bubble in 2020, and they really made things interesting against the Vegas Golden Knights. As an Avalanche fan, I can't underestimate the Stars again, they definitely look like they will be a legit threat in the Central Division next season, and maybe a season or two beyond that. We'll see what tricks they have up their sleeve during the upcoming offseason.

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