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With Dallas Stars in prime playoff spot, veering off concerning course could go a long way

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With Dallas Stars in prime playoff spot, veering off concerning course could go a long way


So perhaps I was mistaken about life after Mikko. Seemed like the Stars had shown plenty of positive signs of being able to produce on their own, once he stopped delivering nightly hat tricks or four-point games. Instead, the entire squad was blanked in Winnipeg Friday night, making this a very compelling 1-1 series that continues with a 3:30 puck drop on Sunday at the AAC.

Dallas remains in prime position to keep advancing in this marathon affair called the Stanley Cup playoffs. Just by gaining a split in Winnipeg, the Stars secured the slight edge that is home-ice advantage, although this spring home teams are winning at a better than 2-1 rate — highly unusual for the NHL. Dallas is contributing with a 3-1 record at the AAC. And how things stand makes all the difference in the world when two teams of equal stature are going at it.

But the Stars also lost by four goals Friday night, and even if you want to excuse the empty-net strike from about 185 feet by Nikolaj Ehlers, this was still the fourth time Dallas has lost by at least three goals in the playoffs.

Cause for concern?

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Stars can’t let this troubling trend continue against NHL-best Jets

“You know what, some of them, the Colorado ones, I did because I thought we got overwhelmed,’’ Stars coach Pete DeBoer said Saturday after the team landed at Love Field. “I didn’t think that was the case last night. When you dive into the analytics and stuff, I think that was the story, too. Couple of those Colorado games were concerning, but I didn’t think last night’s was in that category.’’

Still, with one notable exception (a turning point Game 5 against Colorado), the Stars either win a close game or get drowned in a blowout. No other club has lost four times by three goals. I suppose the good news is that the only other three-time loser by three goals is Winnipeg. The Jets didn’t come close to winning a game in St. Louis, and if goaltender Connor Hellebuyck can be counted upon to resort to those bad performances (he was pulled in each game), Dallas can set its sights on, most likely, the Edmonton Oilers in the next round.

That all seems a little too easy, not to mention a dangerous assumption to make. The Stars forced Hellebuyck to provide at least a few big stops in the second period of Friday’s shutout, and now who’s to say that the game’s best goaltender hasn’t regained his singular focus? For me, Friday’s 4-0 Jets win looked a heck of a lot like Winnipeg’s 4-0 victory at the AAC in the final week when the visitors were nailing down the Presidents’ Trophy and the Stars were encased in a weird late-season slump.

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Dallas still looks like that team a little too much, and Winnipeg, which got defenseman Josh Morrissey back into its lineup for Game 2, making the team truly healthy for the first time in the playoffs, looked a lot like the regular season Jets.

“He’s their Miro Heiskanen, you know,’’ DeBoer said. “So that changed things. It slots people for them. It’s a big boost of confidence for their whole group.’’

The Stars could use a similar injection but it won’t come Sunday afternoon. DeBoer said Heiskanen — injured against Vegas on Jan. 28 — won’t play in Game 3 and will return to day-to-day status for Tuesday’s Game 4.

Dallas Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen ruled out for Game 3 vs. Winnipeg Jets

“You know, when he comes back it’s going to be, obviously, a good day, but even then he’s been out for three and a half months. We’re going to have to temper our expectations on what he’s going to bring after that long of an absence,’’ DeBoer said.

For now, it’s back to scratching and clawing and hoping for emergency relief from Rantanen. What do all these blowouts really mean? Not much, maybe, in the sense that Florida won the Stanley Cup last June and lost four games by three or more goals. Of course, the Panthers spread that over two months with two of the losses coming to the Oilers in the Finals after they had grabbed a 3-0 lead. That’s different from losing all of one’s games by three goals.

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If you’re looking to local Stanley Cup history, the Stars in 1999 lost seven games in their entire run to the Cup in Buffalo. They lost six games by one goal (four of those in overtime). Their only two-goal loss was a 7-5 defeat against Colorado in Game 5.

Not every Cup winner has to follow the same path. We’re just talking about surviving the second round, anyway. A bounce of the puck here or there, a first postseason goal from Matt Duchene or maybe a second from Mikael Granlund or Jamie Benn could go a long way towards moving the Stars beyond a team quietly waiting for another Mikko miracle.

X/Twitter: @TimCowlishaw

Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.



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Dallas, TX

Former Dallas Cowboys starter at position of need signs with Titans

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Former Dallas Cowboys starter at position of need signs with Titans


The Dallas Cowboys have plenty of talent at defensive back, but injuries have plagued to position in recent years. All-Pro cornerbacks Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland have struggled to stay on the field at the same time, and Diggs will likely miss the start of the 2025 NFL season after suffering a season-ending knee injury for the second straight year.

Dallas drafted East Carolina star Shavon Revel in the third round of this year’s NFL Draft, but he is also coming off a torn ACL that prematurely ended his college career.

Last season, ball-hawking cornerback Amani Oruwariye got the opportunity to start in six games for the Cowboys because of injuries, and he made the most of it.

MORE: 6 Cowboys players in contract years entering 2025 NFL season

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Oruwariye recorded 29 tackles, one interception, and three passes defensed. Unfortunately, he will not be back with Dallas this season.

Dallas Cowboys cornerback Amani Oruwariye takes the field to play the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Dallas Cowboys cornerback Amani Oruwariye takes the field to play the Pittsburgh Steelers. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

According to FOX Sports’ Jordan Schultz, Oruwariye has agreed to a one-year deal with the Tennessee Titans.

Tennessee also added linebacker Amari Burney off waivers this week, so it is clear the Titans are revamping the defensive roster.

MORE: Dak Prescott disrespect continues, named ‘most tradeable’ NFL QB

Dallas, meanwhile, has had plenty of roster shakeups of their own this offseason, so it is going to be interesting to see how everything plays out throughout the year.

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And, in case you were wondering, the Cowboys do not face the Titans in 2025, so there will be no “Oruwariye revenge game.”

Dallas Cowboys cornerback Amani Oruwariye intercepts a pass intended for New York Giants wide receiver Wan'Dale Robinson.

Dallas Cowboys cornerback Amani Oruwariye intercepts a pass intended for New York Giants wide receiver Wan’Dale Robinson. / Julian Leshay Guadalupe/NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

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US DOJ, John Cornyn starts investigation into Muslim community, Epic, tied to East Plano Center

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US DOJ, John Cornyn starts investigation into Muslim community, Epic, tied to East Plano Center


The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a federal civil rights investigation into a Muslim-centered planned community around one of the state’s largest mosques near Dallas, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said Friday.

Cornyn requested the federal probe of the development last month, citing concerns it could discriminate against Christians and Jews. He announced in a post on X that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi had notified him of the investigation.

The developers of the proposed planned community tied to the East Plano Islamic Center, which has not yet been built, have said they are being bullied because they are Muslim.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment or to confirm Cornyn’s announcement.

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A federal probe would further escalate pressure on the proposed EPIC City, which is already facing mounting criticism and multiple investigations from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott and other GOP state officials who claim the group is trying to create a Muslim-exclusive community that would impose Islamic law on residents.

Among its chief critics is the state’s hard-right Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is challenging Cornyn for his Senate seat in 2026.

“Religious discrimination and Sharia Law have no home in Texas,” Cornyn, of Texas, wrote in his post on X. “Any violations of federal law must be swiftly prosecuted, and I know under (President Donald Trump’s) administration, they will be.”

Dan Cogdell, an attorney for EPIC City who defended Paxton in his 2023 impeachment trial when he was acquitted by the state Senate, said the developers have “done nothing illegal and we will cooperate fully with all investigations-regardless of how misguided and unnecessary they are.”

The state investigations include whether the development is violating financial and fair housing laws and whether the mosque has conducted illegal funerals.

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Cogdell has said none of the investigations would be happening if the community was planned around a church or temple.

The attacks on the project about Islamic law and other claims “are not only completely without merit and totally misleading but they are dangerous as well,” Cogdell said Friday. “These folks are US Citizens, law abiding and Texans.”

The Council on American-Islamic Relations in the Dallas area also has criticized the state probes as bullying the Muslim community and a violation of constitutionally protected religious expression.

Plans for the mixed-used development include more than 1,000 homes and apartments, a faith-based school for kindergarten through 12th grade, a community college, assisted living for older residents and athletics fields.

EPIC City would be near the community of Josephine, about 30 miles (48 kilometers) northeast of Dallas.

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Dallas-based bookstore leading fight against Texas bill

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Dallas-based bookstore leading fight against Texas bill


Dallas-based Half Price Books is helping lead the fight against a bill being considered in Austin.

The bill would allow bookstores to be sued for selling or even displaying harmful material to minors.

Supporters say it’s needed to protect children, but critics call it censorship.

Workers at Half Price Books love reading but reading every book that comes through its doors, President Kathy Doyle Thomas says, is unrealistic.

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But that, she says, is what her stores would be expected to do under a bill proposed by Republican State Rep. Nate Schatzline of Fort Worth.

“How do we know in all of these books that we have in all of the stores across the state — We don’t know what’s inappropriate. [They] could be inappropriate in Corpus Christi compared to Dallas, Texas,” explained Doyle Thomas.

HB 1375 would hold bookstores liable for “damages arising from the distribution, transmission, or display of harmful material to a minor.”

Rep. Schatzline told a House committee last month that it provides parents with the option to sue those who expose children to obscene content.

“As lawmakers, we have a duty to protect families and children from exploitation and from the unchecked spread of harmful spread of harmful materials in our communities and online,” said Rep. Schatzline.

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Doyle Thomas says titles in the romance, mystery and self-help sections would be at the top of the list of those at risk of being targeted.

“When I saw the bill, I was just frustrated and mad and I thought we have to do something about it,” she said.

In a recent letter to lawmakers, Doyle Thomas wrote that HB 1375 is “a threat to all booksellers” and asked them not to interfere with their ability to do business in what’s seen by critics as the latest chapter in book censorship.

“Someone is trying to decide what I can and can’t read and my children can and can’t read and we do not think that’s fair or appropriate,” said Doyle Thomas.

The bill remains in a House committee.

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The Texas legislative session is scheduled to end on June 2.



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