Tony Gutierrez / AP
Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz (24) smiles as he celebrates with the bench after scoring against the Seattle Kraken in the second period of Game 7 of a Cup second-round playoff series, Monday, May 15, 2023, in Dallas.
Monday, May 15, 2023 | 7:48 p.m.
If the Golden Knights want to play for the Stanley Cup, they’ll have to get through their former coach to do it.
It will be the Dallas Stars and coach Pete DeBoer facing the Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final. Game 1 is Friday at T-Mobile Arena.
The Stars defeated the Seattle Kraken 2-1 in Game 7 of their second-round series at American Airlines Center on Monday.
The Golden Knights wrapped up their series against the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday, a 5-2 victory in Game 6.
This is a rematch of the 2020 conference final that was played in a bubble in Edmonton due to the pandemic. The Golden Knights were the top seed in the West in that series, as well, but lost in five games. Dallas went on to lose to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games in the Stanley Cup Final.
DeBoer will face the Golden Knights in the playoffs for a third time. The first two came as coach of the San Jose Sharks, losing in the second round in 2018 (six games), and the infamous 2019 first-round, seven-game series won by the Sharks.
But this will be the first time DeBoer faces the Golden Knights since he was fired on May 16, 2022. DeBoer, when he sat behind Vegas’ bench, led the Golden Knights to two trips to the NHL’s semifinals, losing to Dallas in 2020 and the Montreal Canadiens in 2021.
DeBoer was 98-50-12 in less than three seasons with Vegas and was 22-17 in the playoffs.
The Golden Knights are in the conference final for the fourth time in their six-year history but have not advanced to the Cup Final since the inaugural season in 2018.
Dallas swept the regular season series with Vegas 3-0-0, with two wins via overtime/shootout.
Full schedule:
Game 1: Friday, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 2: Sunday, Noon (ABC)
Game 3: May 23, 5 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 4: May 25, 5 p.m. (ESPN)
*Game 5: May 27, 5 p.m. (ABC)
*Game 6: May 29, 5 p.m. (ESPN)
*Game 7: May 31, 6 p.m. (ESPN)
*if necessary
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected] Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
