The playoffs are a minefield, scattered with ways to fail on the path to the Stanley Cup. There's off nights from goaltenders and more from power plays, a dominant top line or a dormant one. There are also ways to make heroes in the playoffs, the contributions from trade deadline acquisitions or from rookies, the games from third-liners and once-healthy scratches.
It's difficult and surprising and expectedly unpredictable, and this is how it's supposed to go.
On Monday, in the Stars' 2-1 overtime win in Game 6 over the Predators, there was a thriller after a heart-stopping third period and up-and-down extra frame, a gasp for air from Nashville via Pekka Rinne and a suffocation from Dallas and Ben Bishop.