The Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild are getting ready to start a first-round playoff series that has been expected for months.

Jake Oettinger made 33 saves through overtime, Wyatt Johnston scored the shootout winner and the Dallas Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche 2-1 to tighten the race for first place in the division, Western Conference and league standings.

Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers are going to their second Stanley Cup Final in a row.

Connor Brown scored after getting hit in the mouth by a skate, Stuart Skinner made 25 saves for his third shutout of the postseason and the Edmonton Oilers beat the Dallas Stars 3-0 in Game 2 on Friday night to even the Western Conference final.

Mikko Rantanen had a goal and two assists, including on the tiebreaking goal off Alexander Petrovic's skate as the Dallas Stars beat the Winnipeg Jets 5-2 on Sunday to take 2-1 lead in the second-round Western Conference series.

Mikko Rantanen’s NHL playoffs-record streak of consecutive goals involved in has ended at 13 for the Dallas Stars.

Nathan MacKinnon received credit for a go-ahead goal with 10:56 remaining after the puck bounced off the shoulder of a Dallas player and the Colorado Avalanche staved off elimination by rallying to beat the Stars 7-4 in Game 6.

Wyatt Johnston scored 9 seconds in for the quickest goal ever to start a playoff game for the Dallas Stars.

New Colorado goalie Mackenzie Blackwood is already having a big impact on the Avalanche in their eighth consecutive postseason.

Nathan MacKinnon had a part in both of Colorado’s strange goals in the second period before adding an empty-netter late as the Avalanche beat the Dallas Stars 5-1 in the opener of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen scored two power-play goals, Roope Hintz had a goal and three assists and the Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 in Game 2 on Thursday night to even the second-round Western Conference series.

Wyatt Johnston scored his third goal in two games, and the Dallas Stars beat the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 to even their first-round NHL playoffs series.

Brett Howden scored from behind the net off Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger 1:35 into overtime to give the Vegas Golden Knights a 4-3 victory in Game 1 of their Western Conference final.

Roope Hintz scored two goals and had an assist, Joe Pavelski scored his seventh goal of the second-round series and the Dallas Stars beat the Seattle Kraken 5-2 in Game 5.

Roope Hintz scored his fifth goal of the series, Jake Oettinger stonewalled his home-state team again, and the Stars eliminated the Minnesota Wild with a 4-1 win in Game 6 of their first-round NHL playoff series.

Ryan Hartman scored 12:20 into the second overtime and the Minnesota Wild beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 in their playoff opener Monday night, and into Tuesday morning.

Pete DeBoer is jumping right back into coaching with the Dallas Stars about a month after he was fired by the Vegas Golden Knights.

Miro Heiskanen scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period and the Dallas Stars beat Calgary 4-2 to force a Game 7 in their first-round Western Conference series.

Joe Pavelski scored twice and got the game-winner on the first power-play goal in the series for Dallas as the Stars beat the Calgary Flames 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves for his second shutout this season, Gabriel Landeskog scored two goals and the streaking Colorado Avalanche beat the Dallas Stars 4-0.

Roope Hintz scored a power-play goal with 2:09 left in overtime to give the Dallas Stars a 5-4 victory over the Detroit Red Wings.

Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski scored 75 seconds apart late in the third period, and the Dallas Stars stopped Pittsburgh’s 10-game win streak with a 3-2 victory over the Penguins.

Denis Gurianov scored in the fifth round of a shootout to give the Dallas Stars a 3-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings.

Detroit Red Wings center Robby Fabbri shares during the second period of an NHL hockey game, Thursday, March 18, 2021, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)DETROIT – Robby Fabbri scored three goals, one in each period, and the Detroit Red Wings held on to beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Thursday night. “He’s not the biggest or fastest guy, but he makes up for it with competitiveness," Red Wings coach Jeff Blashill said. Thomas Greiss finished the game in net for the Red Wings and had 16 saves. “We’re clicking right now and I think that comes from getting a lot of reps together in practice," Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin said.

(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)DALLAS – Jason Dickinson scored 1:32 into overtime and the Dallas Stars won a third straight home game to start their delayed season, beating the Detroit Red Wings 2-1 on Tuesday night. The Red Wings controlled the puck for the first minute-plus of the 3-on-3 period before the Stars gained control and moved into the offensive zone. “I saw he probably thought that I was going to shoot it so I was going to take him out,” Klingberg said. The Red Wings are winless in four of their past five games this season. Guys had to step up at key times.”STILL MISSINGThe Red Wings remain without forwards Adam Erne, Robby Fabbri, Sam Gagner and Filip Zadina and defenseman Jon Merrill because of COVID-19 protocols.

The triumph of winning the NHL championship in a bubble was certainly no less sweet for the Tampa Bay Lightning. He played 964 regular-season and 137 playoff games to get to this point, losing in the final twice before. Tampa Bay had Point and No. Coach Jon Cooper thought the attitude needed to change from wanting to beat every opponent 9-0 because that’s not realistic in playoff hockey. ... Alexander Volkov made his NHL playoff debut for Tampa Bay, which also saw Patrick Maroon become just the eighth player to win the Cup in back-to-back seasons with different teams (St. Louis).

Justin Abdelkader #8 and Trevor Daley #83 of the Detroit Red Wings battle for the puck with Jamie Oleksiak #2 of the Dallas Stars. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)DETROIT - Anthony Mantha scored his career-high fourth goal with 53.3 seconds left, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a 4-3 victory over the Dallas Stars on Sunday night in their home opener. Jonathan Bernier stopped 19 shots to help the Red Wings improve to 2-0. The Red Wings had a 5-on-3 power play for 40 seconds midway through the third and failed to take advantage. ... Red Wings C Andreas Athanasiou was scratched with a lower-body injury.