Heading into the playoffs, there was one thought on most everyone’s mind: the Vegas Golden Knights were the worst possible reward for the Dallas Stars winning the conference.
Even if you felt that Dallas would win round one regardless of who they played, I’m not sure there’s a single Stars fan who would have preferred Vegas over the Nashville Predators or the Los Angeles Kings. These are the defending Stanley Cup champions, after all. Who beat Dallas 4-2 in last year’s Western Conference Final. Who went 3-0-0 against them this year. Who added Tomas Hertl, Noah Hanifin, and Anthony Mantha at the deadline and, oh yeah, got Mark Stone back perfectly healthy just in time for Game 1, and conveniently not a single game earlier.