Since falling to the eventual champion Detroit Red Wings in the 2008 Western Conference finals, the Dallas Stars have been an NHL also-ran.
That six-game loss to the Wings triggered nearly a decade of futility for a franchise that had been a perennial playoff participant since before it made the move from Minnesota to Big D. The Stars have qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs just once in the last seven seasons and have won a total of two postseason games over that span. Only the Edmonton Oilers and Winnipeg Jets have won fewer.
It’ll take a collapse of epic proportions for that trend to continue.
The Stars have shot up the standings this season, entering Saturday night’s matchup with center Tyler Seguin’s former team, the Boston Bruins, in possession of the NHL’s third-best record.
Seguin and linemate Jamie Benn have formed the league’s most dynamic and explosive scoring duo — both rank in the top three in the league in scoring, the top four in goals and the top 13 in assists — and Dallas appears to have completely recovered from its one rough patch. Since beginning January with seven losses in eight games, the Stars have gone 8-3-1 and beaten powerhouses in the West-leading Chicago Blackhawks and the East-leading Washington Capitals.
Seguin was at his very best in the Stars and Bruins’ first meeting this season, tallying a hat trick Nov. 3 in a 5-3 Dallas win at TD Garden.
“It really is about two guys (Seguin and Benn), the chemistry of the two guys and how well they’ve played together,” Stars coach Lindy Ruff told reporters Saturday morning, via The Dallas Morning News. “Usually when you look at somebody and they’re scoring, there’s somebody else on the team that is right in there with them. I don’t think anybody could have guessed what the chemistry would have been right off the bat. I knew Tyler had really good skill and had seen enough of him to know how he could skate, I knew he could shoot and I’m not surprised they’ve been able to put the pucks in.”
Ruff took over the reins in Dallas in 2013 after a decade-and-a-half behind the Buffalo Sabres’ bench. The Stars posted nearly identical marks in each of his first two seasons, reaching 91 points and earning a wild-card bid in 2013-14 and tallying 92 points but missing out on the playoffs last season. They’re on pace for 111 this season, which would be their highest total since 2005-06 and their third-highest since the franchise relocated to Texas in 1993.
Add to the mix offseason acquisitions Patrick Sharp (42 points), Johnny Oduya (17 points, plus-15 rating) and Antti Niemi (21-11-5 in 38 appearances), as well as the breakout season rookie defenseman John Klingberg currently is enjoying (tied for seventh in the NHL with 38 assists), and the Stars have their most dangerous roster in years.
Earning passage to the Stanley Cup Final won’t be easy in the loaded Western Conference, but Seguin, Benn & Co. are continuing to prove they clearly belong in the conversation.
Thumbnail photo via Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports Images
