Last night, the Dallas Stars found out who they will play in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They will take on the Presidents Trophy winner, the Winnipeg Jets. It almost looked like the Stars' reporters were about to book their tickets for St. Louis until 1.5 seconds left in the game when Winnipeg sent a Hail Mary flying at Jordan Binnington. Unfortunately, it went in, and the Jets won in double overtime last night. It shows that the game isn't over until the final buzzer sounds.
It's going to be another grueling series for the Stars. However, they showed they are up for a battle in game 7 this past weekend. With Mikko Rantanen taking over that game to advance Dallas to the next round, the Stars are only going to get scarier with Miro Heiskanen and Jason Robertson returning shortly. However, I'm concerned about the number. The number of reporters starting to jump on the Stars' bandwagon right now is increasing after Saturday. It might doom the Stars in the second round.
The Stars tend to play better as underdogs than as favorites. This was pretty evident in the first round of the playoffs when all the reporters picked the Avalanche to win because of the Stars' seven-game skid. I can understand why they chose the Avalanche to win because of the losing streak and not having Robertson or Heiskanen in the lineup. However, everything changes when it comes to the playoffs. You can never count out the underdog until the final game is over.
After looking at which reporters have picked to win the semifinals between the Stars and the Jets, it's evident that many reporters are jumping on the Stars bandwagon. While I'm glad some reporters are finally giving the Stars the flowers they deserve, I'm worried this could trip up the Stars against the Jets. I'm not a superstitious person, but I can't help thinking the last time the Stars were favored to win a playoff series. It didn't work out so well for the Stars.
Now I hope the Stars prove everyone wrong and advance to the Western Conference Finals for a third consecutive year. The way Connor Hellebuyck played compared to Jake Oettinger in the first round should worry some Winnipeg fans. I know the Jets rebounded from Hellebuyck's terrible start in the first period, but I won't count on him repeating the first round. Let's hope the Stars get a good start in the series on Wednesday night. Something tells me the Stars are due for a game 1 win, and Wednesday could be that night.