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Stargazing, A Dallas Stars Puckcast – Episode 285: Round 1, Game 4 Reactions

It wasn’t pretty. Wes and Mark work After Dark to find out what happened, and what the Stars will do to keep it from happening again.

Defending Big D's Stargazing podcast logo, featuring a Dallas Stars Victory Green cassette tape with tearaway jersey texture and nets over the sprocket holes, designed by Jason Lara
Logo design: Jason Lara | @NHLMaps

We did ask what would happen when the Colorado Avalanche got desperate, and it appears the Dallas Stars gave us an answer. A terrible answer, true, but they did provide one.

In this episode of Stargazing, Wes and Mark had plenty of dark thoughts about the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs. But, as usual, they also found a couple of reasons to believe this game was an outlier. In the middle, they discussed getting the top line unstuck, the need for Esa Lindell to start providing offense again, and why Jake Oettinger had to take the walk of shame to make a point to the guys in front of him.

Two periods of bad podcasting and one period of damage control? We’re Stargazing After Dark, and sometimes we’re a little too hard on ourselves. (We’re Stars fans. It comes with the territory.)

Want to vent about whatever that was on Saturday night? Let us know in the comments. We’ll bring it up in the next cast.

And please don’t forget to rate, review and share. Help us help you get through this. Thanks.

The Dallas Stars always knew they had a lot of work to get done in the 2026 NHL offseason. We fans always knew GM Jim Nill had a plan, and it surely involved re-signing both Jason Robertson and Mavrik Bourque. So do we panic now that Plan A is dusted? Or is a Jim Nill Plan B good enough to keep the Stars rolling? In this episode of Stargazing, Wes and Mark discuss the battle to keep Robo (and who has a legitimate chance of taking him away), Jamie Benn's new deal, a show-me season for Thomas Harley, what the team needs from Mikko Rantanen, separating fact from fiction in the Stars' salary cap situation…and ever so much more. So is Joel Kiviranta the good-luck charm we all need to ensure everything will be OK? We're Stargazing, and we're not dismissing the prospect out of hand. Bonus question: Who are you watching among the Stars' new NHL Draft picks? Let's talk about it at Defending Big D. And please give us a rate, review, or share wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to Stargazing. We love you. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
  1. Plan A and Plan B
  2. Golfing Season
  3. Round 1, Game 4 Reactions
  4. Round 1, Game 3 Reactions
  5. Round 1, Game 2 Reactions

Talking Points