👋 Good morning! - Let’s make sure we’re not driving recklessly and putting our lives — and other people’s — at risk.- Ali Jawad

The Stars didn’t “find their game” so much as they survived long enough for Jason Robertson to throw a ridiculous backhand lob that somehow turned into the winner in a 3-1 grind at Crypto.com Arena (still Staples, sorry).

Dallas tried its favorite hobby, refusing to shoot, while Los Angeles tilted the ice for long stretches, but Jake Oettinger kept the whole thing from tipping over when the Kings started buzzing in the second and early third.

It got messy fast: Jamie Benn returned from the broken nose (visor and all) and Dallas stacked avoidable minors like they were trying to stress-test the PK.

After a quick-succession penalty turned into a Kings tying goal, the Stars briefly thought Mikko Rantanen had their backs with a go-ahead rip… until the offsides challenge wiped it out.

So, naturally, the actual deciding goal came the most Stars-way possible: a weird, chaotic shot toward the net that shouldn’t work… until it did.

And even the “put it away” moment tried to go sideways, Sam Steel clanged the post on an empty netter that made everyone’s soul leave their body, before Matt Duchene finally hit the yawning cage to seal it.

Ugly?

Absolutely. But it’s the kind of road win Dallas needed, especially with the back-to-back rolling right into Anaheim on Tuesday.

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Cooper Flagg put on a show, 27 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, 3 steals and a block, to drag the Mavs past the Nets in a game that was way uglier than it needed to be.

Dallas sleepwalked through stretches, then Flagg and Naji Marshall flipped the switch in the fourth and slammed the door.

The DLLS Mavs crew breaks down the win, the late takeover, and why this one still felt like a warning sign.

Wild Card Weekend came out swinging, the Eagles and Packers are already out, and the whole bracket just got way more chaotic (and hilarious) than anyone predicted.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys are still hunting for a defensive coordinator, and every new “update” feels like a smokescreen… until it isn’t.

Oh, and Dallas is officially locked into picks No. 12 and No. 20, so the offseason chessboard is set, now it’s just about whether they nail the hire and the haul.

The Rangers have basically bet the 2026 offense on one real addition and a whole lot of “the guys we already have will be better,” which is either bold… or dangerous.

They’re selling it as subtraction-by-addition after dumping three underperforming bats, but the bigger question is whether that actually fixes a lineup that disappeared way too often last season.

If the bounce-back doesn’t come from within, Texas might be staring at the same scoring issues, and a pretty obvious need for one more move before Opening Day.

Maybe now he will play better defense.

Be sure to subscribe to our shows wherever you listen to your podcasts. Traffic can be the worst, and one of the best ways I get through it is by listening to the audio versions of our DLLS shows. You should, too!

Ali Jawad
Dallas Cowboys ​Content Creator/Newsletter Writer
[email protected]