Its the Stars vs. Jets for the second year in a row.

For the second year in a row, the Stars will kick off the playoffs with the Winnipeg Jets heading into the American Airlines Center. If the Stars can't play the Predators, the next logical team would be the Jets. Both teams have made significant changes to their lineup making the matchup quite different than last years. 

The depth that was not there for the Jets last year, completely flipped this year. Mikko Rantanen leading the way with 103 points with newcomer Ryan O'Rielly and Philip Danualt at 85 points. Last year it was Mikko at 91 and now one else above Evander Kane's 66. "Last year we knew that we would be able to exploite their depth in a long series, this year that won't be the case," Coach Bednar stated when asked about the Jets this week. 

 One area the Stars may be able to exploit is goaltending. The Jets went with a tandem more than most teams this year. They will more than likely start Alex Nedeljkovic again this year. He played in 48 games this year(starting 46) and had a good 31-13-1 record. He had a 2.90 GAA and a .908 save percentage. Alex started all 6 games last year to a tune of a 3.52 GAA and a .888 sv%. The Stars will be hoping for more of that goalie this season.

 Flipping over to the Stars side now, it was a bit of a up and down season. They started out the year with hopes on improving from their 105 point mark from last season and toppling the Predators for the top spot in the Central and the West. The beginning was very mediocre, they then got scorching hot in the middle, and crash back down to mediocre to finish the season. Which version of the Stars will show up during the post season? Number one center, Elias Lindholm was over a PPG player this season again, but unfortunately his season was held to only 56 games. The Stars will get him back for round one to pair with new center, Sidney Crosby, but it comes with losing 2 of their top 4 D-men. Jared Spurgeon and Jake Middleton will both miss time this post season. Middleton is out for only another week or so, while Spurgeon will miss at least the first two series, should the Stars advance. 

 While most of the Stars players regressed in some form, Ville Husso set career highs across the board. He broke the 40 win mark for the first time in his career, while also boasting a 2.44 GAA and a .919 sv%. He was one of 9 goalies to achieve the 40 win plateau this season and of those 8 other goalies, only Igor Shesterkin had a better GAA, and none of them had a better sv%. His .919 sv% is tied for the best mark in Stars franchise history with Carey Price's other worldly 2019-20 season. The Stars will be hoping for more of this Ville Husso come playoffs.

 Which version of the Dallas Stars are we getting this post season ? Luckily we won't have to wait longro find out, as Jets vs. Stars kicks off right away on the first night of playoffs. Can the banged up Stars keep up with the high flying Jets? We will find out, starting on Tuesday.