First off, I fully believe this team is still capable of winning the Cup this year. They’ve looked slow the last couple of games, but I still think they’ve got it in them.

That said, I realized last night that some of the desperation I was feeling was due to the fact that we’ve been hyped all year as potential Cup winners, and that creates a sense of urgency that isn’t fully realistic.

This isn’t a team whose window is anywhere close to shutting. It’s a team stacked with young talent and probably some more on the way. If we don’t do it this year, we should be competitive for a long time to come.

The Stars do feel like they’ve lost a step the last couple of games. But winning the Cup is hard. It’s 4 long series. And Edmonton is a really good team with 2 of the best players in the world. Players like McDavid and Draisaitl are MADE for the playoffs, and they’re showing it now.

It’s been 25 years and it would be really nice to win now. And we still can. But we are set up for long-term success.