Third Round Primer: Breaking Down the Golden Knights

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty ImagesThe Dallas Stars (thanks to Joel Kiviranta) find themselves in the Western Conference Final, just four wins from the Stanley Cup Final, for the first time in 12 years.

Twelve years is quite a long time ago.

Back then, that Western Conference Final saw the Stars fall to the eventual 2008 Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings in six games. When the Red Wings skated off the ice at the American Airlines Center with the Clarence Campbell Bowl that evening, nobody could foresee that it would mark the final playoff game for the Stars for five long years.

Recapping all that has transpired since that evening in 2008 could fill a book. After all, Mike Modano, Marty…