Dallas Stars Outlast Wild, Advance To Conference Semis

The Dallas Stars found a way to best the Minnesota Wild in six increasingly crazy games. It wasn’t pretty, but style points don’t count this time of year.

If you’re a fan of the Dallas Stars, perhaps you’re used to their high-risk, high-reward style of play. This isn’t to say it’s easy on one’s blood pressure. Nor is it particularly easy to watch. They can score copious amounts of goals, but can give up a passel in return.

Such was the case during a Sunday matinee at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Despite taking a 4-0 lead to the second intermission, the Dallas Stars still found a way tighten sphincters across the DFW Metroplex and eke out a series-clinching 5-4 win.

For the time being, don’t worry about how they went about winning the opening round. This is the first time the Stars have won a playoff series since 2008, after all. What’s important is that they got it done. It’s been posited in this space before that the team is still learning how to win contests of this magnitude.

For now, let’s concentrate on the burgeoning success of an organization that has languished in mediocrity for most of the last eight seasons. For long time followers of the team, it’s easy to get caught up in the expectations of past Stanley Cup contenders. Those teams were comprised of proven veterans. This iteration of Stars’ hockey isn’t built on that kind of foundation.

More from Dallas Stars

• Dallas Stars swing long odds in their favor heading into Game 6
• The Dallas Stars, Bon Jovi, and a showdown with Las Vegas (prediction)
• Dallas Stars ‘Kraken skulls’ and moving on to the Conference Final
• Dallas Stars overcoming injuries has been critical in the postseason
• Dallas Stars postseason breakdown: Jason Robertson

General manager Jim Nill has infused some Stanley Cup pedigree. Forwards Tyler Seguin and Patrick Sharp lend championship experience, as does defenseman Johnny Oduya. Even goaltender Antti Niemi has hoisted the Cup. But for every player that can boast that on their resume, there’s one (or more) that has little to no playoff experience.

The point is that success may well be incremental for the Dallas Stars. What these six games against the Minnesota Wild proved is that there’s not a lot of space between the top seed and the eighth seed. The road ahead will be a grind, and everyone needs to remember–present company included–that the top spot in the conference isn’t necessarily a one way ticket to the Stanley Cup finals.

All apprehension aside, left wing and captain Jamie Benn leads this team into battle. As soft-spoken as he is off the ice, he’s been a physically imposing, greasy-fast tank on it. He had a monster game yesterday with a goal and two assists. That effort pushed him to the clubhouse lead in NHL playoff scoring with four goals and six assists. Couple that with his plus-five rating, and you have an early candidate for the Conn Smythe trophy.

Moreover, Benn’s game of late has proven that giving him the captain’s “C” back in the 2013 offseason was a prescient move by the Stars’ brass. At the sake of speaking in cliches, he plays the game the right way. He leads by example, and the rest of the team is more than willing to fall in line.

Next: Will Fuller 2016 NFL Draft Profile

More from Sports Dallas Fort-Worth

• West coast, Texas coast, burnt toast: Cowboys don’t need more runs
• Brandin Cooks will change the way defenses play the Dallas Cowboys
• Why the Dallas Cowboys defensive X-Factor is EDGE Sam Williams
• Dallas Cowboys: 3 head coach options if McCarthy fails in 2023
• Dallas Cowboys: Is CB Jourdan Lewis a tradeable asset?

Whether or not this translates to future success in this playoff run in anyone’s guess. What we do know, though, is that the Dallas Stars have advanced to the conference semifinals for the first time since 2008. While no one expects a banner to be hung from the rafters for this achievement, it isn’t lost on the fan base that bigger and better things await.