Before the postseason began, I started to write a piece loosely titled “Why the Dallas Stars are a Dark Horse Stanley Cup Contender.” The basic premise was that the Stars traditionally play a boring but safe style of hockey that would be perfectly suited for playoff games in which everyone was shaking off rust and making ample mistakes.
Throw in some extra rest for the Stars’ older players, top-tier goaltending by recent Vezina Trophy runner-up Ben Bishop, and the potential for young stars like Denis Gurianov and Miro Heiskanen to steal the spotlight, and you had a recipe for a team that could go the distance.