Wyatt Johnston scored twice on the eve of his 21st birthday as the Dallas Stars pushed Colorado to the brink of elimination with a 5-1 win in Game 4 that came hours after Avalanche standout Valeri Nichushkin was suspended for at least six months.

Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen scored two power-play goals, Roope Hintz had a goal and three assists and the Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-3 in Game 2 on Thursday night to even the second-round Western Conference series.

The Colorado Avalanche had gone a full week since wrapping up their first-round series, and were down three goals in the first period on the road against the top-seeded team.

Wyatt Johnston scored his second goal of the game in overtime to give the Dallas Stars a 3-2 victory over Vegas on Saturday night, cutting the defending champion Golden Knights’ series lead to 2-1.

Joe Pavelski scored his sixth goal of the series as part of a four-goal second period for Dallas, and the Stars routed the Seattle Kraken 6-3 on Tuesday night in Game 4 to even the Western Conference semifinal series.

Jordan Eberle sparked a five-goal outburst in the second period with his fourth goal of the playoffs, Philipp Grubauer made 24 saves and the Seattle Kraken beat the Dallas Stars 7-2 to take a 2-1 series lead in their Western Conference semifinal.

Pete DeBoer is jumping right back into coaching with the Dallas Stars about a month after he was fired by the Vegas Golden Knights.

Defenseman Miro Heiskanen had a goal and two assists and Finland beat the United States 4-3 on Saturday to set up its third straight world hockey championship final against Canada.

Miro Heiskanen scored the go-ahead goal late in the second period and the Dallas Stars beat Calgary 4-2 to force a Game 7 in their first-round Western Conference series.

Rasmus Andersson scored Calgary’s first power-play goal since early in the playoff opener, Jacob Markstrom had 34 saves and the Flames beat the Dallas Stars 4-1 in Game 4 to even their first-round series.

Joe Pavelski scored twice and got the game-winner on the first power-play goal in the series for Dallas as the Stars beat the Calgary Flames 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

The NHL will emerge from an extended holiday break with taxi squads and other roster revisions to guard against more disruptions to the season.

The Philadelphia Flyers have traded Jakub Voracek to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Cam Atkinson in the first major trade on the second day of the NHL draft.

The Stars' return comes after 17 players tested positive for COVID-19, even though most were asymptomatic. Their first four scheduled games, all on the road and including an early Stanley Cup Final rematch with Tampa Bay, were postponed. “Right now, listen, we're all ready for a game,” Stars coach Rick Bowness said after practice Thursday at their home arena. Now the Stars are the last team to open the NHL's 56-game, division-only regular season. About 5,000 fans will be allowed for Stars games, well below the hockey capacity of 18,532, though the NBA's Dallas Mavericks are playing their home games there without fans.

DALLAS – The Dallas Stars began their offseason activity after losing in the Stanley Cup Final by bringing back a reliable defender. Dallas re-signed veteran defenseman Andrej Sekera to a $3 million, two-year contract Sunday that carries an annual salary cap hit of $1.5 million. The 34-year-old Slovak blocked 38 shots and had one assist in the postseason while playing third-pairing minutes for the Western Conference-champion Stars. Sekera had eight points and blocked 75 shots in 57 regular-season games during his first year with Dallas. The 6-foot, 195-pound defender has appeared in 764 regular-season NHL games over parts of 14 seasons with Buffalo, Carolina, Los Angeles, Edmonton and Dallas.

This is a Stanley Cup matchup for all of those who like their games to be a bit defensive. “In today’s NHL you need that for your team to be successful,” Lightning defenseman Ryan McDonagh said Friday. “We're not surprised,” Stars defenseman John Klingberg said. ... He’s doing it all right now.”The Stars signed 14-year veteran Andrej Sekera as a free agent last summer, and he is finally in his first Stanley Cup Final with his fifth team. “Everyone is obviously very hungry to go all of the way,” said Hedman, part of Tampa Bay's loss to the Chicago Blackhawks in the Stanley Cup Final five years ago.

EDMONTON, AB – The leaves are starting to change color around the NHL playoff bubble, and, at most, seven games remain before the Stanley Cup is handed out. On Saturday night, two of the league's southernmost teams begin a Stanley Cup Final like none other in the great white north when the Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning face off in Game 1. “This is unlike any other Stanley Cup final where we’d get days rest,” coach Jon Cooper said. Some things to watch in the Dallas-Tampa Bay Stanley Cup Final:RUSSIAN GOALIESIt's the first time in NHL history that the final features two Russian starting goaltenders. Nikolai Khabibulin is the only Russian goalie to win the Stanley Cup when he did so with Tampa Bay in 2004.