The Dallas Stars will play the Winnipeg Jets in the Western Conference Second Round.
The Stars advanced by defeating the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 in Game 7 at American Airlines Center on Saturday. The Jets advanced by defeating the St. Louis Blues 4-3 in double overtime in Game 7 at Canada Life Centre on Sunday.
The Stars, who are the No. 2 seed from the Central Division, will begin the series on the road against the Jets, who won the Presidents' Trophy as the team with the best record in the regular season.
"I have a hard time believing that there’s any team that’s that much better than Colorado out there left, so we’ve got to play the right way," Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger said. "I think if we do that, focus on one game at a time, not get ahead of ourself and maybe try to win Game 1, we can go from there."
Mikko Rantanen (five goals, seven assists) led the Stars in the first round with 12 points, including a hat trick in Game 7. Roope Hintz (four goals, three assists) and Wyatt Johnston (three goals, four assists) each had seven points. Tyler Seguin and Thomas Harley each had two goals.
Jake Oettinger was 4-3 with a 2.85 goals-against average and .910 save percentage in seven games. Backup Casey DeSmith made 13 saves on 14 shots in one relief appearance.
Kyle Connor led the Jets in the first round with 12 points (four goals, eight assists), and Neal Pionk (one goal, four assists) and Cole Perfetti (three goals, two assists) each had five. Mark Scheifele had six points (two goals, four assists) in five games before missing the final two of the series because of an undisclosed injury.
Connor Hellebuyck was 4-3 with a 3.85 GAA and .830 save percentage. Eric Comrie made 12 saves on 13 shots in three relief appearances.
“We’ve got no choice, good recovery tomorrow. We’ve said it all year long, we’ll take what we can from these games," Connor said about recovering before playing Dallas. "Yeah, this is an emotional high, but we have had those moments throughout the year. Obviously, not to this magnitude, but we’ve got to be able to settle down and refocus our efforts here on the next round.”
The Stars went 1-3-0 against the Jets this season, scoring a total of five goals. Mason Marchment and Hintz each had two goals, and Harley had three assists. Oettinger started all four games (1-3-0) with a 3.73 GAA and .869 save percentage. DeSmith made 10 saves in one relief appearance.
Connor led the Jets against the Stars this season with five points (four goals, one assist) in four games. Scheifele had five assists, and Hellebuyck was 3-1-0 with a 1.01 GAA, .965 save percentage and one shutout.
"They’re a great team," Jets forward Nikolaj Ehlers said. "We’re a good team. Can’t wait for that battle."
Dallas and Winnipeg have never played in the playoffs.
The Stars lost to the Edmonton Oilers in six games in the Western Conference Final last season and have advanced to the conference final each of the past two seasons. The Jets last advanced to the conference final in 2018.
NHL.com independent correspondent Taylor Baird contributed to this report
