Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

The Stars proved why they’re Cup favorites against the Avalanche

Originally posted on Daily Faceoff | By Sam Nestler | Last updated 5/20/24

The Dallas Stars proved to the entire NHL just how good they are in the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

After winning the Western Conference during the regular season and securing the top seed, the Stars were given the not-so-generous reward of playing the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights in the first round.

Keep in mind, this was a Vegas team that added huge pieces at the deadline and used their LTIR to bring back captain Mark Stone for Game 1. But the Stars not only won the series in seven games, they overcame an 0-2 series deficit at home to do it.

Their reward for that victory was a second-round series against the previous champions, the Colorado Avalanche. But Dallas jumped all over the Avs, winning four of five after dropping Game 1 at home once again.

DALLAS WINS

Matt Duchene scores in @SportChek double overtime to send the @DallasStars to the Western Conference Final! #StanleyCup pic.twitter.com/t7cVrJUYHr
— NHL (@NHL) May 18, 2024

Dallas has been the most consistent team throughout the playoffs. They have both backed up their believers and proven themselves to any of their doubters as Stanley Cup favorites.

And now, they get five days off ahead of their second straight Western Conference Final after playing every other night since Game 3 of the first round. That will only help a deep team that has been without Roope Hintz and Jani Hankanpaa.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Frank, they’ve been your cup pick the entire time. And I feel like all they’ve done throughout the entire playoffs is cement why they are your cup pick. They are deep up front, they have a hell of a blue line and have one of the best goalies in the NHL. They proved in this series against Colorado they are damn near flawless.

Frank Seravalli: They’ve been excellent. And they’ve done it against some really tough teams in some tough spots. Down 0-2 on home ice to the Vegas Golden Knights. Win the series in seven. You get a lead on the Colorado Avalanche, they make you think in the series. You blow a couple leads to the Avalanche, you don’t blink… You’ve got the best depth in the NHL…You’ve got a great goaltender in Jake Oettinger. Oh, and by the way, you get to watch the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers duke it out in Game 7 tonight while you get an extra two days of rest.

You can watch the full segment and episode here: