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Dallas Stars Daily Links: Stars Enter The First Round With New Confidence

The Victory Green Gang say they’re ready to face the Calgary Flames. Plus, series storylines to watch, Alexis Lafrenière goes to New York, and more.

The Dallas Stars have had quite the postseason journey so far. They seemed to have picked up where they left off in March and put together a nine-game losing streak before they pulled out a big come-from-behind win against the St. Louis Blues in their final round-robin game.

But with the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference in hand, they’ll enter the first round with the wind at their backs.

That’s the idea, anyway. Mike Heika talked with some of the Stars’ key players and personnel to find out if they feel as confident as we think:

“This game kind of re-established our game and got us back to an understanding of what it takes,” said forward Joe Pavelski, who tied the game with 31.4 seconds remaining and the extra attacker on the ice. “Relief? No. Confidence a little bit, and we’ll keep moving forward.”

They get that chance pretty quickly. With the NHL operating in bubbles because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the playoff schedule will also be unique. The Stars and Flames play Tuesday Thursday and Friday. That’s a pretty frenetic pace for a team that has been slogging so far, but it might be just what Dallas needs.

While we can’t forget that the Stars’ regular-season record against the Calgary Flames wasn’t exactly, well, stellar...it may not pay to read too much into it, either:

The Stars were 1-1-1 against the Flames this season, with all three games played before Christmas. Both Dallas and Calgary changed coaches in the middle of the season, so past film might only show so much. The Flames beat Winnipeg in the play-in round, and looked good doing it.

“They’re playing very, very well right now,” Stars interim coach Rick Bowness said. “They’re getting the goaltending, they’re getting timely goals. They played Winnipeg, a team that was beat up, obviously with some key injuries, but they’re a very confident team right now and they’ve got some very dangerous players, and they’ve got some elite defensemen back there that play big minutes. We know we have a very, very tough opponent coming into this. We have a ton of respect for that team. We’ll be ready for them.”

There’s more at Mike’s place. [Dallas Stars]

Stars Stuff

Don’t forget to set a reminder, as if you need one.

And I fully expect to see each of you waving your phone in the air like you’re in the AAC.

I’m sure DBD’ers already have a full kit of “rhymes with Tkachuk” comments at the ready.

Around The League(s)

It was oh so quiet in the NHL last night, so let’s get to the news:

The Flames are feeling some confidence of their own as they prepare for battle.

It’s official – the New York Rangers got the golden ticket in the Alexis Lafrenière sweepstakes.

And yet it looks as if Gary Bettman scored an even more resounding win with the NHL Draft Lottery format.

Let’s face it, there are far worse places to start your NHL career than on Broadway anyhow.

Is it ever the wrong time to announce that you’re bringing back an old sweater as your new sweater? For the Buffalo Sabres, the answer is no. No, it is not.

Finally

It’s time. Go Stars.

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