DALLAS (AP) — Dallas Stars coach Pete DeBoer went into this season a little worried about the potential hangover effect on his team after the long postseason run that ended with a loss last May in the sixth game of the Western Conference Final.
With six games left before the playoffs begin again, DeBoer is feeling pretty good about his team.
The Stars have won a franchise-record eight games in a row, Jake Oettinger has posted shutouts in the last two, and they are on top of the Western Conference standings with 105 points, one behind the New York Rangers for the most in the NHL. They are playing their best hockey of the season.
“This is the right time,” DeBoer said after the Stars beat Edmonton 5-0 on Wednesday night. “Forget the wins and the winning streak, I like the detail in our game. I like how we’re playing for the most part, so that's a good thing. Everyone wants to be doing that this time of year, and the wins are a byproduct of that.”
Dallas already has seven 20-goal scorers, and captain Jamie Benn is one shy of making it a franchise-record eight after his 19th against the Oilers. Wyatt Johnston, the 20-year-old in his second full season, became the first Stars player to 30 this season when he scored coming out of the penalty box as part of their four goals in a span of less than seven minutes in the second period.
“The team’s at a really good place,” Johnston said.
“We're just trying to focus like on the little habits, the little details, trying to focus for the playoffs,” forward Radek Faksa said. “We have lots to play for. We already clinched a spot. We want to win the conference ... so we have a great spot for the playoffs.”
Faksa, part of their fourth line, put the Stars ahead of Edmonton with his goal only 2:08 into the game. He also had two assists, on Johnston's goal and when Sam Steele closed out the scoring. There were 10 different Dallas players who tallied points.
“I think our depth has carried us,” DeBoer said. “It was 12 months ago, and everyone was describing us as a one-line team.”
The Stars last week clinched a third consecutive postseason berth, their longest streak since five in a row through the 2008 playoffs, when they also lost in in the conference final. That was also the end of being in the playoffs 12 of their first 14 seasons after moving from Minnesota to Dallas in the summer of 1993, and included their Stanley Cup title in 1999.
Dallas last year lost Game 6 of the Western Conference Final at home to Las Vegas, which went to win the Stanley Cup. That was after the Stars opened the playoffs with a six-game series against Minnesota and then survived a seven-game series against Seattle.
As for their eight-game winning streak now, there had been six other times in franchise history when the Stars had won seven games without extended that.
They were back home against Edmonton after each of their previous four games had been on the road. Overall, they have won their last seven road games, and play their last regular-season games away from home against Chicago and Colorado this weekend before finishing with a four-game homestand.
Oettinger hasn't allowed a goal in 7 1/2 periods, about 152 minutes. He stopped 35 shots against an Edmonton team filled with top scorers that went 0 for 4 on the power play.
“It’s awesome. He gives us a lot of confidence, and he's been so good all year,” Johnston said about the goalie. “It feels pretty good when you have him back there. And, I mean, it’s pretty hard to lose games when he’s not letting up any goals.”
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL
Dallas Stars' Mason Marchment (27) is lifted off the ice by goalie Jake Oettinger, right, as they celebrate the team's win in an NHL hockey game against the Edmonton Oilers, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars' Jamie Benn (14), Logan Stankoven (11) and Wyatt Johnston (53) celebrate with the bench after Benn scored in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Edmonton Oilers, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars center Radek Faksa (12) takes a shot as Edmonton Oilers' Calvin Pickard (30) and Vincent Desharnais (73) defend the net in the first period of an NHL hockey game, Wednesday, April 3, 2024, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)
Dallas Stars coach Peter DeBoer stands behind center Sam Steel (18), center Roope Hintz (24) and left wing Jason Robertson (21) during the third period of the team's NHL hockey game against the San Jose Sharks in San Jose, Calif., Tuesday, March 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
Brittney Griner continues her efforts to settle into a normal routine following her release from a Russian prison 17 months ago.
Life isn't what it once was for the perennial WNBA All-Star.
The 6-foot-8 center looks different and has different priorities. Gone are her familiar dreadlocks that couldn't be maintained during her incarceration. She regularly sees a therapist to help her cope after being imprisoned for 10 months. And since her release, Griner has been an advocate for the return of other Americans detained overseas.
She has met with President Joe Biden twice since her release, including once last month in Phoenix.
“Got to talk to him about a couple of people and just keep it on the forefront of everyone’s mind,” the Phoenix Mercury star said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “You want to get exposure and that keeps it on the forefront of people’s minds. Keep people accountable.”
Griner was detained at a Moscow airport in February 2022. Russian authorities said a search of her luggage revealed vape cartridges containing oil derived from cannabis.
She shares details about the harrowing experience in her new book — “Coming Home” — which comes out Tuesday.
Griner hopes one takeaway for anyone who reads the book will be a vivid picture of what detainees have to endure. She said it's why it took her all of last season to write it with Michelle Burford.
“I didn’t leave anything out from the detainment, to being over there, the conditions. As much as we could fit into a book, we basically did,” Griner said. “People will be shocked at some of the things.
"I hope it brings a little bit more of an understanding to the conditions that detainees go through.”
Griner says it is important people have a clear picture of what it's like for those Americans not home yet, including Paul Whelan and Evan Gershkovich, so that no one gives up the fight.
“It took everyone to come together to bring me home,” she said. Government officials "have to make really hard decisions.”
Griner, who first met President Biden at the White House Correspondent's dinner in 2023 a few months after her return to the U.S., said she and her WNBA teammates must keep the momentum going to get everyone home.
“How are we going to do it? Bringing in families, playing videos, give them airtime?" she said. "Maybe someone that doesn’t know, sees (the book) and they write a letter to Congress that tips over the scale to get someone home.”
Griner said her days of playing basketball overseas during the WNBA offseason are over.
Though many WNBA players still play in international leagues to supplement their league salaries, Griner said she is done, except with USA Basketball. She hopes to be on the Olympic team at the Paris Games this summer, and the odds are in her favor that will happen.
Griner had played in China for a few years during the WNBA offseason, before making the move to Russia — where she had played since 2015 before her arrest.
It’s not just her ordeal in Russia, however, that is going to keep her home. Griner's wife, Cherelle, is expecting the couple’s first child.
“The only time I’ll go overseas is with Team USA,” Griner said. “I need to be in the states. About to be a parent. Last thing I want to do is be in and out of my kid’s life. I want to be there for everything. I don’t want to uproot my family and take them overseas with me. It’s too much.”
Griner, who has been an advocate for mental health for the past decade, said she sees a therapist regularly — something she did for several years before she went to Russia — and it helps her process what she endured while in prison.
“They are instrumental to my mental health,” Griner said about her sessions. “Everyone can benefit from having someone to talk to. Someone outside of their every day life. It just helps to have a different perspective on life from someone.
"That way if you do feel nervous or struggling with something, it’s very beneficial.”
The 33-year-old took a mental health break for several days last summer during the WNBA season, missing three games. She'll begin her 12th year in the league May 14.
Griner is looking forward to it after the welcome she received in her return last year. One of the only positives that Griner will take away from her ordeal was the outpouring of support she received from people in the form of letters they wrote to her in prison.
“The letters were amazing from the fans, teammates, opponents, GMs, they all meant so much to me,” she said. “It was very dark at times, especially going through the trial. When I was in isolation for weeks, it was an emotional rollercoaster and those letters made me remember that I wasn't forgotten.”
AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball
FILE - Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner, right, hugs former college teammate Dallas Wings guard Odyssey Sims after a WNBA basketball basketball game in Arlington, Texas, Friday, June 9, 2023. Griner says since her release from a Russian prison 17 months ago that she has used her platform as a WNBA All-Star and Olympic gold medalist to advocate for the return of other Americans detained overseas. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)
FILE - Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner, center, hugs Seattle Storm guard Jewell Loyd, left, after a WNBA basketball game Saturday, June 24, 2023, at Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle. Life isn't what it once was for the perennial WNBA All-Star. (Kevin Clark/The Seattle Times via AP, File, Filer)
FILE - WNBA basketball player Brittney Griner speaks at a news conference, Thursday, April 27, 2023, in Phoenix. While many WNBA players play in international leagues to supplement their incomes, Griner says the only time she'll ever play outside country again is with the USA Basketball. (AP Photo/Matt York, File)
This cover image released by Knopf shows "Coming Home" by Brittney Griner, with Michelle Burford. (Knopf via AP)
FILE - WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner, second from right, is escorted to a courtroom for a hearing in Khimki outside Moscow, Russia, July 7, 2022. Griner continues her efforts to settle into a normal routine following her release from a Russian prison 17 months ago. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner (42) makes a layup during the second quarter of a WNBA basketball game against the Washington Mystics, July 23, 2023, in Washington. Griner continues her efforts to settle into a normal routine following her release from a Russian prison 17 months ago. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough, File)
FILE - WNBA star and two-time Olympic gold medalist Brittney Griner speaks to her lawyers from inside a cage in a courtroom in Khimki, outside Moscow, Russia, on July 26, 2022. Griner continues her efforts to settle into a normal routine following her release from a Russian prison 17 months ago. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool, File)
