Seguin's scoring touch has Stars on verge of Western Conference Final

DENVER -- Tyler Seguin's new haircut has seemed to spark his scoring.

"I've liked my mojo," the Dallas Stars forward said Friday, one day after scoring in a 5-3 win against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 2 of the Western Conference Second Round. "I feel like I've been playing great hockey. Tons of chances, no reward, no finish."

The finish has come, and Seguin has three goals in his past three games. His contributions have the Stars on the verge of eliminating the Avalanche in their best-of-7 series entering Game 5 at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Wednesday (8 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS).

Whether it was a change in his hair to the current mullet he is sporting, or the chances finally going in because that's what eventually happens when you keep at it, Seguin has been solid.

"I've liked 'Seggy's' game all year. I think that line has been excellent for most of the year," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said Saturday of the third line of Seguin at right wing, Mason Marchment at left wing and Matt Duchene at center.

"Like any line you have some bumps in the road and some highs and lows as the season goes. But when you look at the big picture and the body of work over the entire season, I think he's been excellent, and that line has been excellent."

Seguin had 52 points (25 goals, 27 assists) in 68 regular-season games but couldn't find the back of the net in the first round against the Vegas Golden Knights, finishing with three assists in seven games.

"The first round, I don't know how many shots or chances I had or breakaways, it wasn't going in," Seguin said prior to the Stars' 5-1 win in Game 4 on Monday. "Right now, sometimes they start going in. When they're not going in, you stick with it; when they are going in, you try to ride it out."

His teammates figured it was only a matter of time and they were right; Seguin also scored twice in a 4-1 win in Game 3 on Saturday.

"It's great. I mean, that's what you want," Stars forward Wyatt Johnston said. " You want to make sure the chances are there, and for him they've been there. He's been generating a lot of chances and getting a lot of good looks. It's nice for them to start going in.

"It seems like overall, it evens out to some extent where if you're getting your chances, they're going to fall eventually. Just have to keep pushing with it. Eventually they'll come in bunches."

Seguin's patience in working through things has been put to the test in recent years. He played with a torn hip labrum during the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when the Stars advanced to the Stanley Cup Final before losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games. He had a right hip arthroscopy and labral repair Nov. 2, 2020. During his recovery, he also had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.

He missed all but three games in the 2020-21 season, which was shortened to 56 games due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In an October 2022 interview with NHL.com, Seguin said he told a friend on Jan. 26, 2021, that "I don't know if I'll ever be able to play anymore."

"Well, he's at a different point in his career than he has been and I think the injuries have given him perspective," DeBoer said. "I think you get perspective as you get older in your career, and you realize that you're not here forever and the clock's ticking.

"He's one guy in our room that's won a Stanley Cup (with the Boston Bruins in 2011) but he did it at such a young age (19). He wants to do it again. His head is in a great place and another guy who, because he's checked his ego, has been really valuable for us."

The 32-year-old has become a bit of a hockey big brother to some of the Stars' young players, including Johnston and Logan Stankoven, both 21, and defenseman Thomas Harley, 22. Seguin called Johnston "a pup" during a recent interview. When a postgame question was posed to him and Stankoven after Game 3, he deferred to Stankoven, saying, "go ahead, kid," and giving him a pat on the back as they left.

"Obviously [he's] been here in Dallas for a long time (11 seasons) and one of the older veteran guys on the team that's played a lot of games, played a lot of NHL playoff games," Johnston said. "For especially young guys like me to look up to him, kind of hear what he says but also see the way he goes out there and plays, I mean, he's a great leader."

Seguin is in a great place in hockey and in life. He and girlfriend Kate Kirchof were married last July in the Bahamas, and he joked after Game 3 that his mullet is "a test for my wife to make sure she truly loved me, and she does, so it was great."

There have been a lot of highs and lows, but it's all working right now for Seguin, who said there's "zero doubt" he has a different perspective on everything now.

"The years just kind of start adding up and they add up so quickly," he said. "You hear about it, but until you experience it you don't fully believe it. You think you have so many cracks at it.

"The biggest thing is just having no regrets. Going through an offseason and making sure that you did leave everything out there. Sometimes there's a tough break, a tough bounce. Sometimes there are things out of your control, but it's just a perspective of doing everything you can in those moments and enjoying the moments, too, because they're a lot of fun as well."