Dallas, TX
Despite Game 1 loss, Jim Nill’s Dallas Stars are built to bounce back vs. Avalanche
Jim Nill could teach Nico Harrison a thing or two about how to make a trade that sends shock waves through the rest of the league without pulling the props out from under your own front porch in the process. Both general managers made blockbuster deadline moves in an attempt to win now. As of Friday night, Nico’s officially a year in arrears.
Even after Saturday’s 5-1 opening-game loss to Colorado at American Airlines Center, Nill still has a pretty good shot at his first Stanley Cup as a GM.
Might as well go ahead and win it all now, too, before people start to think it’s a Dallas thing.
On one hand, the Stars go into Game 2 with not just one eight-game losing streak but two. There’s eight straight this season as well as eight in a row leading off a playoff series.
On the other hand, they’ve bounced back after a Game 1 loss before. Five of the last seven playoff series, to be exact.
“There’s no confidence issue,” said Pete DeBoer, who seemed to believe it.
Certainly the Stars are good enough to turn this around. Also good enough to win their first championship this century. Even without Jason Robertson for a few more games, and Saturday’s evidence to the contrary, they’ve got the firepower and the goalie in Jake Oettinger.
Once Miro Heiskanen returns — he looked like he might be close at Saturday’s morning skate — they’ll have enough defense.
“He’s a world-class player,” Thomas Harley said, “and we miss him.”
Unfortunately, the Stars’ bigger problem Saturday was they didn’t miss Mackenzie Blackwood nearly enough. Just once, in fact, on a power-play goal by Roope Hintz in the third, when Blackwood’s stick was stuck in the net.
The breakthrough cut Colorado’s lead to 2-1, which is when it all went to pieces. The Avs’ last three goals included an empty netter and another goal so bad it nearly emptied the building.
If there’s been any criticism of Nill’s deadline work, it’s that he doubled down on offense with the acquisition of Mikko Rantanen instead of dressing up his blue line. Rantanen is clearly still feeling his way along. As for DeBoer’s defense, he said his only problem was giving Colorado eight minutes of power play to play with.
In the scoreless first period, it was tough sledding for both teams. Broken sticks littered the ice like driftwood on a beach.
But, even before Colorado’s late barrage, they proved to be the better team Saturday. Through two periods, as the Avs took a 2-0 lead, they’d won more face-offs (24-17), outshot (18-17) and outhit (23-12) the Stars, who looked like they were still trying to shake the cobwebs out of their heads from a seven-game losing streak to end the regular season.
Were the Avs also lucky? Sure. They got their first goal after Oettinger stopped Artturi Lehkonen’s shot, only to watch the rebound hit Lehkonen’s skate as he slid toward the crease, the puck caroming over Otter’s shoulder.
“Hell of a soccer play,” DeBoer said, smiling.
On a Colorado power play after Hintz’s double-minor, Nathan MacKinnon also flicked a puck that clipped Otter’s glove.
That was pretty much all that was needed Saturday to undo the Stars, who haven’t won the first game of a playoff series since 2020. Not ideal to keep digging themselves a hole early, but not a deal-killer, either.
Even if they don’t pull this series out, chances are nobody’s getting fired. Certainly not Nill. Could Pete DeBoer be on the hot seat? He got 106 points out of a team missing its best player (Heiskanen) and Tyler Seguin for a chunk of the season. Some bitterness lingers from how he handled the end of the Stars’ playoff run last year, but Nill isn’t firing him now.
Not when he lacks a front-line replacement for a team built to win now.
For the record, Nico’s probably not getting fired, either, even if he deserves it for trading Luka Doncic. For one thing, Patrick Dumont backed the trade publicly. He can’t back off Nico now.
Besides, before making the worst trade in Dallas sports history, Nico had shown a knack for making deals that led to a conference finals appearance and a finals run. He should get the opportunity to prove he can still make this work.
Missing the playoffs again next year ought to do it for all those unhappy campers out there.
Maybe even a one-and-done.
Fortunately, the Stars, though down a game once again, play on. Even if most left early, enough fans hung around with two minutes left to mount a decent “Fire Nico” chant. Only one GM working at AAC is safe these days.
Twitter/X: @KSherringtonDMN
Tripped up: See photos from Dallas Stars’ Game 1 loss to Colorado Avalanche
Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.
Alisha Gray scored 27 points and Brionna Jones recorded a double-double and the Atlanta Dream took control just before halftime and went on to beat the Dallas Wings 83-75 on Saturday.
/ Getty Images
Brittney Griner scored 15 points, Jones scored 11 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Rhyne Howard distrbuted 10 assists for Atlanta (2-2). The Dream distributed 23 assists on 29-made baskets as they shot 42.6% (68 attempts).
NaLyssa Smith scored 13 points, reserve Maddy Siegrist scored 12, Paige Bueckers 11 and reserves Tyasha Harris and Teaira McCowan 10 apiece for Dallas (0-4).
The Wings starters shot just 13 for 47 (27.6%). Dallas overall shot 30 for 82 (36.6%).
Siegrist gave Dallas its last lead at 26-24 with 4:31 left before halftime. Griner tied it 13 seconds later with a layup, Gray made two foul shots and that started a 13-4 Atlanta run to close the half with a 37-30 lead.
Jones’ layup early in the third quarter gave Atlanta its first double-digit advantage, 45-35. The Dream continued to extend their margin and led 68-50 entering the fourth.
Dallas went on a 15-2 run to close within 70-56 with 5:06 left but never got closer.
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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
Happy Saturday. Dallas Cowboys Nation. We’ve made it to the extended weekend with millions of people set to hit the road for Memorial Day Weekend, enjoy some cookouts, honor those who gave the ultimate sacrifice, spend some time with family, and soak in the unofficial kickoff of summer.
With the holiday weekend, there is no telling what kind of news will surface from Cowboys headquarters as players enjoy the break from OTAs, but in a few weeks, mandatory minicamp will kick off and the offseason will begin to ramp up.
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It’s been an eventful week surrounding the team, with several players speaking out in support of head coach Brian Schottenheimer and the “energy” surrounding the team, so hopefully that is a sign of good things to come.
While we wait to see what the weekend brings, let’s take a quick spin around the internet and check out some of the news and headlines making waves online and across social media. Indulge.
Blogging the Boys takes a look at how Micah Parsons can solidify his standing atop franchise leaderboards in some key stat categories this season.
InsideTheStar.com identifies three Cowboys rookies who could be on the field as Week 1 starters.
Cowboys urged to make splash RB signing of former All-Pro by ex-NFL star… Micah Parsons named one of ‘next NFL dominoes to drop’ amid contract drama… CeeDee Lamb gets honest about shoulder rehab, ‘grateful’ for new season… Cowboys could regret not using early draft pick on certain position… Cowboys TE named team’s most underrated player entering 2025 season… Cowboys predicted to start season with brutal losing streak by NFL analyst… Jalen Tolbert gets major benefit from Cowboys’ George Pickens trade… Could Cowboys have surprise LT over Tyler Guyton in 2025 season?
When it comes to record-setting starts to their careers, there are very few in Dallas Cowboys franchise history (certainly modern history) that top Micah Parsons. The only legitimate argument in this sense may be Ezekiel Elliott.
Parsons is incredible, and we have seen him have all sorts of success through his first four seasons. To date he has racked up 52.5 sacks, time will tell if that is enough to earn a massive extension, and if he keeps up this average then he is going to continue to soar up the team’s record books.
Thanks to our friends at Stathead we can really look at history to see Parsons’ place in it.
2025 could see Micah Parsons really take hold of Dallas Cowboys history
As mentioned, Parsons has 52.5 career sacks to date. That is an absurd amount in just four seasons, but remember that he also missed a few games for the first time in 2024. Shockingly, Parsons’ 52.5 is not the most that any player has ever had through their first four seasons in team history. Pro Football Hall of Famer DeMarcus Ware has him beat out by one.
While Parsons missed time in the stretch that we are talking about so did Ware. Parsons feels like a unicorn in terms of production, but Ware was absolutely incredible early on in his own right.
For what it’s worth, Ware kept pace in his fifth season with the team. Following the 2009 campaign Ware sat at 64.5 sacks which is obviously the most that anyone has ever had in team history through their first five seasons. Harvey Martin came pretty close, though.
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Parsons’ career average from a sack standpoint is 13.125, so if we assume that he notches at least 13 of them then he’ll reach 65 and take down Ware. Obviously there is more that we all want from the team than for players to achieve individual milestones, but that something like this is in reach is still pretty cool. (Also a note… it must have been an error for Parsons’ name to be listed here. I tried a few times to adjust it, but we obviously know he has not played five seasons).
If we assume that Parsons reaches that point, he will also climb into the top 10 for all-time sacks while a member of the Cowboys. He trails the outgoing DeMarcus Lawrence by nine at the moment and that would be the person he pushes out of the proverbial club.
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This is perhaps the most stunning look at what Parsons has done to this point in his career. He is sitting on 63 total games played and if he suits up for every one in 2025 then he will total 80. But even then, the next-closest to him in that sense would be a three-way tie between DeMarcus Ware, DeMarcus Lawrence and George Andrie. Funny that both Ware and Lawrence each played 141 games for the team.
We are watching the beginning of one of the all-time careers in Dallas Cowboys franchise history. What Parsons has done and what we assume he will continue to do are astonishing. Hopefully he can add a championship to everything he is accomplishing as well.
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