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Minnesota Wild left wing Kirill Kaprizov (97) attacks the puck as Dallas Stars defenseman Esa Lindell (23) keeps moving it up the boards during the first period in Game 6 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series in St. Paul, Minnesota, April 30, 2026.<\/p>\n
Tom Fox\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
The consensus across the NHL entering the playoffs was that the Central Division<\/a> had three Stanley Cup contenders.\u00a0<\/p>\n Few thought the division would have no contending teams remaining before the Stanley Cup Final even began.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But now with the Vegas Golden Knights sweeping the Presidents\u2019 Trophy-winning Colorado Avalanche<\/a> in the Western Conference finals Tuesday night, the top three teams in the Central will once again watch a team outside their division hoist the Stanley Cup in June.\u00a0<\/p>\n This season will mark the fourth year in a row that a team from the division didn\u2019t advance out of the Western Conference bracket. Vegas and Edmonton of the Pacific Division have represented the conference for the last four years with the Golden Knights having the chance to win their second Stanley Cup title in that span.\u00a0<\/p>\n The showing by the Central this postseason might\u2019ve been the most underwhelming yet.\u00a0<\/p>\n Make Dallas News a preferred source so your search results prioritize writing by actual people, not AI.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The Stars fell to the Wild in six games<\/a> in a series where they couldn\u2019t seem to score 5-on-5 and made costly defensive mistakes. Dallas was without top-line forward Roope Hintz, which certainly hurt their scoring abilities, and Mikko Rantanen was never 100% after\u00a0tearing his MCL in the Olympics<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Wild advanced to face the Avalanche and fell in just five games. After winning their first playoff series in a decade, fans quickly started to turn on the franchise that couldn\u2019t advance further, even after making the trade of the year by bringing in\u00a0defenseman Quinn Hughes.\u00a0<\/p>\n After cruising through the first two rounds, the Avalanche were embarrassed by Vegas in the conference finals, becoming just the fifth Presidents\u2019 Trophy winners to get swept in a postseason series and extending the trophy\u2019s curse to 13 seasons.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Central Division\u2019s collapse was even more surprising after its teams\u2019 regular-season showings. Not only were the Avalanche firmly the best team in the NHL all season, but Dallas finished third in the standings, and Minnesota finished seventh. No Pacific Division team finished better than 13th.\u00a0<\/p>\n That discrepancy between the divisions prompted Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid to compare the Pacific Division to \u201ca pillow fight\u201d late in the regular season.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n But could that have helped the Golden Knights ultimately reach the Final?\u00a0<\/p>\n The NHL playoff format made it so only one of the three Central Division contenders could reach the conference finals. Players from all three teams called the format into question earlier in the postseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe regular season should set you up well if you do well. With our division being as strong as it is, it doesn\u2019t,\u201d Stars forward Matt Duchene said. \u201cWhen you have three teams that are that caliber, and two of them are gone by the conference finals, it\u2019s tough. People don\u2019t want to see that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n In those rounds, all three teams suffered injuries. Dallas, coincidentally, lost Miro Heiskanen and\u00a0Hintz in regular-season games against Minnesota and Colorado. Then, Wild forward Joel Eriksson Ek missed the entire second-round series due to a broken heel bone he suffered in the first round against the Stars. Minnesota also played without Mats Zuccarello, Zach Bogosian and Jonas Brodin at different points of the playoffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Colorado\u2019s superstar defenseman Cale Makar missed the first two games of the Western Conference finals with an injury he suffered against Minnesota. Valeri Nichuskin and Nathan MacKinnon also battled injuries late in the series against Vegas.\u00a0<\/p>\n But all teams are injured in the postseason, and while that might\u2019ve helped Vegas, the Golden Knights\u2019 play can\u2019t be diminished either.\u00a0<\/p>\n Vegas Golden Knights center Jack Eichel (9) is congratulated after scoring a goal against the Nashville Predators during the second period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, March 29, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo\/Mark Humphrey)<\/p>\n Mark Humphrey\/AP<\/p>\n Mitch Marner and Jack Eichel have been two of the best players in the postseason, leading the league with 21 and 18 points, respectively. Forwards Brett Howden and Pavel Dorofeyev are tied for the league-lead with 10 goals apiece. No other player has more than seven.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Vegas has also shown a ruthlessness few other teams in the NHL have. The team is known for making highly controversial decisions \u2014 many of which have played out in their favor. The Golden Knights made a coaching change with eight games left in the regular season, firing Bruce Cassidy to bring in John Tortorella<\/a>, and signed goaltender Carter Hart, who was among the players on Canada\u2019s world junior team charged with sexual assault but later acquitted<\/a>. He has been among Vegas\u2019 best players on the ice this postseason.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Golden Knights\u2019 reputation is soured for many reasons across the league. Preventing Cassidy from interviewing for other jobs because he remains under contract and skipping postgame interviews after clinching a spot in the Western Conference finals added to their lengthy list of unfavorable decisions.\u00a0<\/p>\n But they\u2019ve found a way to make the Stanley Cup Final three times in the franchise\u2019s nine-year history. The Central Division as a whole has made the Final just twice in that span.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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