Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild players, including Stars center Cameron Hughes (34) and Wild defenseman Quinn Hughes (43) tussle after a goal by Stars center Colin Blackwell during the second period of an NHL hockey game at American Airlines Center on Thursday, April 9, 2026, in Dallas.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
The last time the Dallas Stars won the Stanley Cup — check that — the ONLY time the Dallas Stars won the Stanley Cup, we could see it coming. The three-year run of regular season success, the leaps the team made in the 1998 playoffs after a stunning loss to Edmonton in 1997, the previous summer’s signing of Brett Hull as the final piece to a deep, complete roster …
The Cup was coming to Dallas, even if it took until past 1 a.m. on a summer night in Buffalo to make it official.
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That was a generation ago, or more, depending upon how one counts such things. Where does the three-year run of Western Conference finals defeats fit into the puzzle of Stanley? What comes next following a startling coaching change plugged into the “final piece” slot where Hull once fit? The Stars have run through another ridiculously good regular season, scoring 112 points for the West’s second best record and the third best in the 32-team NHL.
Things are in place. And yet here come the Minnesota Wild to spoil the party.
It’s not as if the Stars aren’t accustomed to being forced to hit the ground running full speed in the playoffs. They faced the defending cup champs from Vegas two years ago and high-octane Colorado last year, winning both in seventh games and needing every ounce of energy and bounce of the puck along the way, climaxing with a third period hat trick last April from Mikko Rantanen.
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How much more can the Wild really have to offer?
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It’s all a matter of how one views these things. Practically the entire Stars’ roster is poised to put this conference finals defeat string to rest. And here’s as close as I can come to a promise. Call it a strong prediction with italics for the full effect. This Stars team WILL NOT LOSE the conference finals.
In 2026, the first two opponents (Minnesota and almost certainly Colorado) are the stumbling blocks, not whatever might come after. Clear those first two hurdles and that feeling about a Cup being just a few weeks away will blanket the city of Dallas. This is all about just surviving early and the Wild are determined to end their own little run of playoff mishaps. In its case, it’s eight straight playoff losses. Minnesota has not advanced beyond the first round since 2015.
Most of those teams were not worthy as their performance demonstrated. This team has been retooled. Remember Minnesota was two points behind Dallas after 78 games and leading 4-3 here last week after two periods. It looked like home ice was coming down to the wire and the visitors were in full flight. Defenseman Quinn Hughes, fresh off a gold medal-winning performance as the top defenseman for Team USA, had made two brilliant passes to set up goals in the game with Dallas, and Wild GM Bill Guerin was beaming before the third period. It wasn’t so much about winning that particular game as knowing that a difference maker had arrived in Minnesota.
“It’s like when I went to Pittsburgh at the end of my career. It didn’t matter that there were three defenders between me and Sidney Crosby, I had to learn the puck was coming onto my stick, anyway, and to be ready for it,’’ Guerin said. “That’s how it’s been with our guys and Quinn.’’
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The Stars went on to win that game — haven’t lost since, as a matter of fact, even though the last three games meant nothing in the standings — but they lost their version of Quinn Hughes in that battle with Minnesota. Miro Heiskanen, who regularly leads all playoff performers in ice time, has remained day to day with a lower body injury since taking a hit to the knee in that first period. His status is unknown. His countryman, Roope Hintz, this team’s most dangerous forward before Rantanen arrived, has already been ruled out for at least the first two home games, and coach Glen Gulutzan’s appraisal of his status indicated a recent setback.
“I don’t know when he can come back or if he can come back, we’ll see,’’ Gulutzan said.
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The Stars have played through injuries to Heiskanen, to Hintz, to Tyler Seguin (done for the season), to Jamie Benn, to Matt Duchene and more. They even padded their longest win streak of the year while Rantanen was out following the Olympics.
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They beat Colorado in the first round without an injured Heiskanen. This feels more like a seven-game series where full strength is required. It’s a series where the Stars have the slight goaltending edge but Jake Oettinger has to deliver and prove it once again. If his conference finals appearances have left something to be desired (and eventually got Pete DeBoer banished to Long Island), his tendency has been to be spot on in the opening round. He was at his best when the Stars were outmanned against Calgary four years ago.
They won’t be outmanned in this series, but all indications are it’s dead even when the puck drops shortly after 4:30 p.m. Saturday. A run to remember is far from impossible. Keeping Minnesota in its place, though, has never been a bigger challenge.