“They’re buzzing”: After gaining valuable split, Stars excited to get back to home fans

The number four rarely feels larger than when in the context of a playoff series.

Four days? It can pass in the blink of an eye. Four episodes of your favorite TV show? You can binge that in one night. Bogeying a par 3 in golf? Certainly recoverable. Four shots on goal? A team can fire off that many in a single rush.

But when it comes to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, four wins often seems like a mountain. It’s a rapid race against your opponent, but can only be run in 25 percent chunks. Days between games can feel like a lifetime, especially as you get closer to determining a winner.

And then there’s the whole part about where you are playing four of the seven games. While the higher seed gets the luxury of starting the series on home ice and potentially delving into a do-or-die Game 7 in front of supportive fans, the lower seed faces the potentially uphill battle of opening in enemy territory.

Unless, of course, they can steal a win while on the road. Just ask the Dallas Stars.

After a First Round victory chock-full of emotions and history that went the distance against Colorado, the Stars shifted their focus to a Second Round date with the Winnipeg Jets. And for the first time since the 2023 Western Conference Final, it was a series that would send Dallas on the road first.

The hope around the dressing room was that the change of scenery would help the Stars snap an eight-game losing skid in Game 1’s. After having to play catch-up out of the gate in eight consecutive series (six of which began at home), maybe playing a simple road game in a hostile environment would do this team some good.

That belief paid off as the Stars claimed a confident 3-2 win on Wednesday night. Jake Oettinger was brilliant in the crease throughout the game and Mikko Rantanen scored his second hat trick in as many games to help seal the deal and give Dallas the upper hand.

That upper hand lasted all of 48 hours, though, as the Jets responded with a confident 4-0 win in Game 2 on Friday. The Stars allowed an early power play goal in the contest and couldn’t find a way to beat Vezina favorite Connor Hellebuyck as Winnipeg hit the gas and evened the series.

But as the lower seed, earning a split in the first two games is often all you can ask for. So, mission accomplished on that front.

“We would’ve liked to get two, obviously,” defenseman Cody Ceci said after Game 2. “But we have to look at the big picture and it’s a long series. It’s kind of what we expected against these guys. They’re a good team. Two would have been nice, but we have to look at the bright side. It’s 1-1 and we’re going back to our building.”

And so, the series shifts to Dallas for three of the next four games. On paper, it looks like a golden opportunity for the Stars to take a stranglehold of the series.

For one, it will be the first game at American Airlines Center since a thrilling Game 7 against the Avalanche on May 3. Diehards and casual Stars fans alike witnessed a historic, once-in-a-lifetime comeback win by the home team to eliminate a bitter rival.

“It was like goosebumps,” Oettinger said. “When Moose scored that empty-netter, that was such a cool feeling. Unless you’re in it, I don’t think there’s any feeling like that in life that you can get unless you’re doing something like that. I’m grateful for those moments. 10 years from now, I’ll be sitting on my couch thinking back at how cool that was. Hopefully it’s the first of many in this run.”

While forward Wyatt Johnston said, “It was crazy. They were buzzing. It made it pretty awesome.”

“It was a huge advantage,” added defenseman Esa Lindell. “It felt like everyone was standing for the last 10 minutes. It was very cool.”

The electric atmosphere provided a boost for the team and also set a successful home ice blueprint for the rest of their run through the postseason.

That’s the hope, at least. The Stars are the only team in the Western Conference yet to lose consecutive games in the 2025 playoffs. They are 3-1 on home ice, scoring at least four goals in each of the last three contests at AAC. It follows a larger body of success during the 2024-25 regular season when Dallas posted a dominant 28-10-3 mark on home ice, good for sixth in the NHL.

It’s all a part of the ever-growing trend of the metroplex fiercely backing the lads in Victory Green.

"I think they’ve really come on,” Johnston said when asked about how the Stars’ home crowds have evolved since his rookie season. “I think having some good teams and going on some good runs definitely helps get the energy going in terms of our team. You can feel that in the crowds every night, even in the 41 regular-season games. They’re buzzing.”

“Our fans are as loyal as they get and they deserve to see us win,” Oettinger said. “The way they’ve supported us all year, we’re selling out on Tuesday nights. Any night of the week, it’s a hard place to come in and win. That’s thanks to our fans, so we want to play a lot more playoff games in front of them.”

That starts with the next two games against a Winnipeg team still in search of its first road win this postseason. After posting an 0-3 record and getting outscored 17-5 in St. Louis during the First Round, the Jets are looking to shake off the travel demons and get on the board outside of Canada Life Centre (where they are 5-1).

Hellebuyck just might be the key to making that happen (or not). The goalie posted a .758 save percentage and 7.24 GAA on the road during the First Round, allowing 16 goals on 66 shots faced and being pulled in all three contests. Does a strong showing in Game 2 help carry him into the next two games at AAC, where he holds a career record of 3-6-4? Only time seems to hold the answer.

And even with location now on its side, Dallas also has some things to clean up. Whether it be limiting penalties, allowing the first goal, or reviving its depth scoring, the warm embrace of home ice might serve as a key catalyst in finding answers for one of the NHL’s best response teams.

“We feel good,” Johnston said of the split. “We’re a resilient group and we have a lot of confidence in our game. At this point in the playoffs, we have a pretty good idea of what we need to do each night to win.”

And there are few things sweeter than winning in front of nearly 19,000 of your fiercest supporters.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Josh Clark is a writer for DallasStars.com. Follow him on X @Josh_Clark02.