Dallas Stars ‘Kraken skulls’ and moving on to the Conference Final
By Reid Hanson
“We’re not going home!” Are the words proclaimed in the 2020 Stanley Cup Pandemic Playoffs as the Dallas Stars progressed round after round enroute to their surprising trip to the Final.
Those word ring as true today as much as they did when Anton Khudobin provided the most excellent of sound bites from within the bubble.
Facing elimination against the expansion team loaded, Seattle Kraken, the Dallas Stars handled business in their first Game 7 of the postseason. Game 7 was nothing new to the Kraken. They knocked off the top seeded Avalanche in a Round 1 Game 7 and seemed abnormally calm and focused on doing the same to the Dallas Stars on their home ice as well.
The Dallas Stars have repeatedly answered the call, playing elite hockey following a loss, and producing when the pressure it at its peak
The Dallas Stars were the better team in the regular season, and unlike the Avalanche, they were also the better team in the postseason as well.
Both goaltenders played lights out. Both teams got off great shots. Both teams deserved to be here. But only one tam could advance. With a 2-1 score (the lone Seattle goal coming with under 20 seconds remaining) the Dallas Stars stamped their ticket to the Western Conference Finals.
Pete DeBoer now moves to a perfect 7-0 in Game 7 contests.
No matter how much time passes, every time the Stars advance in the postseason, I hear Dobby. And I never want that to change as long as I live. #TexasHockey pic.twitter.com/mq4qLyn5gM
— Reid D Hanson (@ReidDHanson) May 16, 2023
Oettinger’s trend of backing up poor performances with brilliant performances was also extended. Stopping 22 shots and recording a shutout until the final minute, the Stars goaltender put memories his Game 6 debacle deep in the past.
The 6-3 win in Game 6 stuck with the entire Dallas team and everyone from Miro Heiskanen to Roope Hintz came out determined to not let their netminder face the same fate in Game 7. It was Hintz who late in the second period banged home the first goal of the night. The score almost indescribably cut the tension for Stars fans and blew the roof off the AAC.
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The Dallas Stars now focus their attention on DeBoer’s former team, the Golden Knights, in the WCF