Pic du jour: Stars out of Stanley Cup contention

The Dallas Stars are once again out of the running for a Stanley Cup.

• The Minnesota Wild knocked the team out of its first-round playoff series with a 5-2 win last night, advancing to the Western Conference semifinals.

Why it matters: This is the earliest the Stars have bowed out of the playoffs since 2022.

State of play: The Stars last won the Stanley Cup in 1999. In each of the last three seasons, they lost in the Western Conference Finals.

• The team entered this year's playoffs as the No. 2 seed in the Central Division after winning five straight games to end their regular season.
• Playing against the Wild, the Stars had to lean heavily on younger players, while Roope Hintz and Tyler Seguin were sidelined because of prolonged injuries.

What they're saying: "It's frustrating, for sure. I think we have a great team and we have been close. We're not going to win every year," Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen said in an interview after the game.

• "We have to learn from this and get better."