Well, the playoff towels are on the seats and ready for a bunch of rowdy fans to wave them in the air. The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin tomorrow afternoon at the American Airlines Center as the Dallas Stars take on the Minnesota Wild in the first round of the Western Conference Playoffs. The atmosphere is going to be electric as both teams look to advance to the second round to face either the Colorado Avalanche or the Los Angeles Kings.
One good thing the Stars can take away from practice this morning is that Miro Heiskanen was on the ice, paired with Esa Lindell. Dallas already knows that they will be without Roope Hintz for the first two games of the series. Seeing Heiskanen skate around the ice looking like himself is going to give Dallas a lot of confidence heading into Game 1 this morning. While it's not official that Miro will be playing tomorrow, you know he will if he feels good tomorrow after practice. However, they will face a fully healthy Minnesota Wild team tomorrow afternoon.
It was reported this afternoon that Quinn Hughes is en route to Dallas and will suit up ahead of tomorrow's game. He's dealing with an illness right now, and I'm sure the Stars were hoping he would be out tomorrow in the back of their minds. However, I'm sure the Stars would like to eliminate a completely healthy Wild team that has really improved throughout the season. This year's Wild team is not the one the Stars took care of easily a couple of seasons ago.
Jake Oettinger will be going up against Jesper Wallstedt tomorrow afternoon. Both goaltenders are exceptional in their own ways. I knew the "Great Wall of St. Paul" would get the start because he gives the Stars the most fits when he starts. However, I hope he realizes that this is the Stanley Cup Playoffs and it's going to be loud as heck in the AAC. Just because he did well against the Stars in the regular season doesn't mean that it's going to be the same in the postseason.
Nils had more big news to celebrate today, after talking about becoming a father last week. Nils Lundkvist is staying in Dallas after earning a two-year extension to remain in the DFW Metroplex. While his development has progressed slowly, Lundkvist has really improved and has shown he can be a top-4 defenseman in the NHL. I'm glad that is another player checked off the list, so I don't have to worry about this summer.
We will have more on Nil's contract extension later this afternoon. I've got to get back to formatting the series predictions article and get the pregame article done before tomorrow morning. It's going to be a great series that will test both teams to determine which is worthy of advancing to the next round. Stay tuned to Blackout Dallas for more on the Stanley Cup Playoffs. We will be covering it 24/7 and keeping you up to date on all the rumblings.
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