You're Cooked: Carolina and Dallas suffer similar conference finals fates
Meanwhile, the Oilers and the Panthers are headed to the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight year.
Is something fundamentally wrong with the Dallas Stars? What about the Carolina Hurricanes?
Both teams have stayed competitive for years, cruising through regular season after regular season while we wonder if this will be the year either will finish the job. Our wondering is done for the season, as both teams fell in their respective conference final in five games.
Look, I think we can all agree that there are tough decisions on deck if either team is going to achieve the ultimate goal anytime soon. I think we can all agree anything less than a trip to the Cup Final is a disappointment for the Stars and the Hurricanes at this point. I think we can all agree that there’s gotta be a way to avoid drying up on offense at the end of each playoff run all around.
But maybe, just maybe, the Panthers and the Oilers have something to do with it. I predicted a Cup re-match after last off-season; I hate doing that so you know I really meant it. These were the best of the best teams that essentially only got better and addressed their needs (except goaltending for the Oilers, but hey, I guess we’ll see if that was actually a mistake next week).
It’s silly to look at any of this in a vacuum when the Canes and Stars keep losing to the same two teams in the same old way. So as we eulogize the two victims of the conference finals, we’re really facing one nuanced reality: The Hurricanes and the Stars aren’t fundamentally broken, but the Panthers and the Oilers are fundamentally better. How do the Hurricanes and Stars get from where they are to that elite level?
RIP to the Stars
Dallas, we respect you for taking down two incredibly difficult opponents in the Avalanche and the Jets. You eliminated the Avalanche in seven games while missing top-scorer Jason Robertson and top player Miro Heiskanen. You went on to defeat the Presidents' Trophy winners in six games.
However, can any of us say we’re particularly surprised you couldn’t conquer a brutal opponent for the third time in a row?
You had to muster up heroics every night, and even then it was barely enough on offense as you searched for a hat trick hero more often than not to force a late-game win. It wasn’t sustainable. We were waiting on either half of the offense to wake up or an inevitable implosion. We got the implosion as the Oilers built momentum and won four straight for the 4-1 series win.
Why it’s Over
3. The Oilers are good!
You’re probably annoyed with me at this point for constantly mentioning the opposition’s role in the deaths of these playoff teams, but I’m sick of conversations that don’t show the full picture.
What is scarier than an Oilers team that isn’t just the Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl show — especially when those two are No. 1 and No. 2 in playoff scoring? Edmonton got a point from 12 different players on its way to a 6-3, series-clinching Game 5 win last night. Edmonton hasn’t just been consistent this postseason, it has added fuel to the fire and seems to just pick up steam game after game. This has been the case with the Panthers as well (remember that quick turnaround after Game 7 vs. the Leafs), and it’s one of the most glaring differences between conference finals winners and losers. The vibe is just easier.
2. The end of the Stars’ regular season was actually telling
Ruh-roh, Scoobs. Remember when the Stars dropped seven straight games at the end of the regular season and everyone told us not to worry about it? Perhaps we should’ve worried about it.
They reverted to an eerily similar style of play by Game 3 of the Western Conference Final — lifeless defense in front of goaltender Jake Oettinger, even more lifeless offense if they managed to get possession of the puck.