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Dallas Stars Daily Links: For Miro Heiskanen, Another Day Means Another Milestone

The teen phenomenon is now a force that must be reckoned with, writes Sean Shapiro. Plus, last night’s playoffs action, a Texas Stars update, and more.

In the end, it looked easy – at least for Miro Heiskanen. The Dallas Stars took a 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators in their own arena, a win that may turn out to be much bigger than the final score might suggest. And they had their rookie blueline prodigy to thank for much of it.

Sean Shapiro takes stock of how Heiskanen’s rookie season has presaged this moment in his after-action report for The Athletic:

He didn’t worry about the moment, he played the game just like he played any other game in his life, and just like any other game in his life he was pretty damn good at it.

“Similar to every other one,” Heiskanen said. “Just play my game and do my thing and my best. Didn’t think about playoff game. Just do my thing.”

The young Finn’s in-your-face greatness does come with side effects. For better or otherwise, the Predators (and future opponents) are now forced to reckon with him, and surely they will:

For some in the hockey world, Heiskanen has remained a bit off the radar — a side effect of his name not being Rasmus Dahlin and the fact on a national level the Stars didn’t receive much chatter that didn’t include comments from the team CEO.

That’s something Tyler Seguin pointed out to me early in the season. Maybe the Stars could hide Heiskanen a bit from the national scene, keep him a secret for a bit before he turns into a true national name.

There’s no chance of hiding him anymore.

Sean has more, including updates on Roope Hintz, Mats Zuccarello and Ben Bishop. [The Athletic DFW]

Can’t get enough of last night’s victory? Chat all about it with The Dallas Morning News’ Matthew DeFranks at noon Central time today.

Stars Stuff

Weren’t we just talking about how Zucc could be a secret weapon in the Stanley Cup playoffs when he picked up a GWG like it was no big deal?

And there’s new love out there for The Star Most Likely To Play Link In Some Alternate-Universe Movie Version of Breath of the Wild.

Miro is breathing some pretty rarified air with his playoffs performance so far.

He really is making a very hard job look easy.

There’s a new sheriff in Smashville.

Bruce LeVine is having some fun with facts...

...and Grubes came in with the perfect musical reference.

Now watch this drive.

Around The League(s): Playoffs Edition

#Murder On #Death

The St. Louis Blues drew first blood against the Winnipeg Jets, 2-1.

Weren’t we also talking about momentum?... The Columbus Blue Jackets shocked the world, not to mention the Tampa Bay Lightning, by winning a 4-3 Game 1.

The San Jose Sharks may have dispersed any notion that they would make it easy for the Vegas Golden Knights with a crushing 5-2 victory.

And the New York Islanders made a meal of their own Game 1, defeating the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-3 in OT.

Stanley Cup Fever: All-Sports Edition

Never doubt DFW’s major franchises support each other through thick and thin, despite that one thing that one time. FC Dallas sends love...

...the Dallas Cowboys send Leighton Vander Esch...

...and the Texas Rangers send more of those awesome theme-night sweaters.

Greetings From Scenic Cedar Park

The Texas Stars will need two more wins and some help from their rivals to make it to the Calder Cup show. They dropped last night’s game 5-3 to the San Antonio Rampage, playing spoiler.

Finally

I’ll just leave this here. Enjoy.

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