For a franchise that’s spent three decades in Texas, the Dallas Stars have given their fans some genuinely unforgettable playoff theater. From a controversial Cup-clinching goal that Buffalo still won’t accept to gut-wrenching Game 7s, the Stars’ postseason history is packed with drama. Here’s our countdown of the greatest playoff moments in Dallas Stars history. Grab your Victory Green — some of these still give longtime fans chills.
6. The 2020 Cup Final run in the bubble
The 2020 playoffs were unlike any other, played entirely inside a sealed “bubble” during the pandemic with no fans in the building. Against that surreal backdrop, the Stars went on an improbable run all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. They ultimately fell short, but the run reminded a new generation of fans that this franchise could still make deep noise in the postseason. It was a bright spot in a strange, difficult year, and it re-energized the fanbase heading into the decade.
5. Back-to-back Presidents’ Trophies (1998 & 1999)
Before the championship glory came dominance. The Stars won the Presidents’ Trophy — awarded to the NHL team with the best regular-season record — in back-to-back seasons in 1998 and 1999, setting a franchise record with 114 points in the ’99 campaign. This wasn’t a single moment so much as a statement: for a stretch in the late ’90s, the Dallas Stars were the best team in hockey. That regular-season dominance set the stage for everything that followed.
4. Beating Colorado in a Game 7 classic (1999)
The road to the 1999 Cup ran straight through the Colorado Avalanche, and the Western Conference Final was a war. The two powerhouses traded blows through seven brutal games, with goaltender Ed Belfour standing on his head down the stretch — surrendering just one goal in each of Games 6 and 7 to close out the series. Getting past a loaded Avalanche team featuring Patrick Roy and Peter Forsberg was arguably harder than the Final itself, and it’s one of the most satisfying series wins in franchise history.
3. The heartbreak that fueled the dynasty
Not every great moment is a happy one. Throughout the mid-to-late 1990s, the Stars kept running into deeper, more experienced teams — most painfully the Detroit Red Wings — and getting bounced from the playoffs despite strong regular seasons. Those defeats stung, but they also forged the identity of a team that refused to quit. The front office added key pieces like Brett Hull and Ed Belfour, and the years of postseason disappointment became the foundation for the championship run. Sometimes the greatest moments are the ones that teach a team how to win.
2. Joe Nieuwendyk’s Conn Smythe run (1999)
Every champion needs a clutch performer, and in 1999 that was Joe Nieuwendyk. He scored six game-winning goals throughout the playoff run and was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player of the postseason. In a lineup loaded with future Hall of Famers, Nieuwendyk’s knack for scoring the biggest goals at the biggest moments was the quiet engine of the championship. His playoff performance remains one of the finest individual runs in Stars history.
1. Brett Hull’s triple-overtime Cup winner (1999)
There was never any doubt about the top spot. On June 19, 1999, in the sixth game of the Stanley Cup Final against the Buffalo Sabres, the Stars and Sabres played into a third overtime period — the second-longest game in Finals history. Then, at 14:51 of triple OT, a banged-up Brett Hull grabbed a rebound in front of the net and slid the puck past Dominik Hasek to win the Stars their first and only Stanley Cup.
The goal remains one of the most famous — and most debated — in NHL history. Replays showed Hull’s skate was in the crease before the puck, which under that era’s rules would normally have negated the goal. But the league ruled Hull maintained possession throughout the play, so it counted. Buffalo fans to this day refer to it simply as “No Goal.” For Stars fans, it’s the greatest moment in franchise history: the night, at nearly 2 a.m., that a championship finally came to Texas. Hull himself has called it the most important goal of his legendary career.
The moments that made a fanbase
That 1999 Cup is still the beating heart of Stars fandom, but the franchise’s playoff history runs deeper than one night. From bubble runs to Game 7 wars to the heartbreaks that built a champion, these are the moments that turned a relocated team into a Texas institution. Here’s hoping the next great playoff moment — and a second Cup — isn’t far off.
What’s your favorite Stars playoff memory? Let us know where you were when Hull scored.