I told y'all. I told y'all. I told y'all. Early in the season, I kept saying that I believed that the Dallas Stars would be in the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year. And I was right. Yes I take great joy in knowing that I was right. The Dallas Stars have finished the regular season with a 40-31-11 record and 91 points. They will face off against the top seeded team in the Western Conference, the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks finished with a 54-20-8 record and 116 points. I'm excited because I've been approved to receive media credentials for Games 3 and 4 at the American Airlines Center and I will be there. So I'm very excited about it.
Now looking around, not many people are giving the Stars much of a chance to win this series. But I am here to predict that the Dallas Stars will win this series in 6 games. Yes you heard me right. The 8th seed Dallas Stars will beat the #1 seed Anaheim Ducks in 6 games to advance in the Stanley Cup playoffs. How is this possible, you ask? Well I'm glad you did. Let's take a look at the 3 meetings between the 2 teams earlier in the year, in which the Stars took 2 of 3 games against the mighty Ducks.
Game 1 - October 20, 2013: Anaheim 6, Dallas 3
In this game, the Stars had Jack Campbell making his NHL debut in net. Thanks to goals by Brenden Dillon, Shawn Horcoff, and Ryan Garbutt, Dallas has a 3-1 lead after the first period. After that, it was down hill for Campbell. As a team, the Stars gave up 5 unanswered goals to lose 6-3. Campbell made 41 saves on 47 shots. You got to remember that when this game was played, both Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin had not really gotten going. They were struggling to start the season.
Game 2 - November 26, 2013: Dallas 6, Anaheim 3
In this game, Dan Ellis was in net for the Stars and this game was much closer than it looks. In the 2nd period, Antoine Roussel scored to tie the game 1-1. Dallas looked like they were going to go to the 3rd period in a tied game, but Ducks' Nick Bonine scored with :36 left in the period to take a 2-1 lead after 2. Then the Stars went off in the 3rd period. In a span of :53, Dallas went from down 2-1 to taking a 4-2 lead thanks to goals from Cody Eakin, Stephane Robidas, and Ryan Garbutt. In all the Stars scored 5 times in the 3rd period to win the game 6-3.
Game 3 - February 1, 2014: Dallas 2, Anaheim 0
In this game, Dan Ellis was in net yet again for Dallas and made 26 saves to shut out his former team. Anaheim's offense never really got in a rhythm while the Stars got goals from Trevor Daley and Jamie Benn. Dallas' defense was really good, only allowing 26 shots compared to 47 in the first meeting and 31 in the second meeting.
So we've looked at the three games between the two teams this season. Here are the reasons why I believe the Dallas Stars will win this series:
1. The Ducks never faced Kari Lehtonen this year.
2. The Stars are a younger team, therefore, will have more energy and stamina to last an entire series. Yes the Ducks were the best team in the Western Conference all season, but in a playoff series you are playing several games in a short time. The Stars are younger and can handle playing in a bunch of games in a short time while I don't believe the Ducks will be able to do that very well.
3. Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn have found chemistry like no other teammates on any other team have. They seem to know exactly where the other is going on the ice and what the other is going to do with the puck. The two of them this season has made the entire team extremely better. They will play a key role in this First Round playoff series against. Anaheim.
So there you have it. I am predicting the Dallas Stars will beat the Anaheim Ducks in 6 games to advance to the 2nd Round in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. With that being said...LET'S GO STARS!!!
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