When the Dallas Stars made the Stanley Cup Final in 2020, it felt to some as though a window was opening.

Even leaving aside the issues around the legitimacy of any results in that summer's bubble, it always seemed like overperformance for that particular team to go that deep into the playoffs. Which, hey, it happens and it's not necessarily a bad thing… unless you start acting like it means you can do it repeatedly.

Which, of course, the Stars couldn't. They missed the playoffs last season -- and yes, that season was fake, especially because it included all-year injuries to Tyler Seguin and Ben Bishop -- but they now appear to be on a track to do it again. They've lost 2 of the last 3 and have just three regulation wins since Dec. 8, and only have 12 wins in regulation from 35 games. The Ne