内容摘要：Desk workers can squeeze in 15 minutes of chair yoga. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Desk workers can squeeze in 15 minutes of chair yoga. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Now they’re squaring off for a trip to the Stanley Cup Final.The Carolina Hurricanes

, while the Florida Panthers. Their new teams — Hall with a perennial playoff team, Jones with the reigning Cup champion — have taken them on a postseason run that now includes a reunion in the Eastern Conference final with“It’s not something that we ever talked about really,” Hall said. I didn’t know if he’d be traded. I knew I would probably get dealt at some point. But just where we were — being at the bottom of the standings, being on a team, an organization, that the pressure to win wasn’t really there overall — to where we are now, speaking for him, I’m sure he’s excited. And so am I.”

Hall, a 33-year-old forward, is in his 15th NHL season as a former No. 1 overall draft pick (2010) and 2018 Hart Trophy winner as league MVP. Jones, a 30-year-old defenseman, is in his 12th NHL season as a past all-star and No. 4 overall draft pick in 2013.Before this year, Hall and Jones had each won just two postseason series, one being shortened 2020 qualifier series amid the pandemic. They’ve matched that now with Carolina and Florida winning two rounds to set up this rematch of the 2023 conference final won by the Panthers.

It’s quite a turn from months earlier with the Blackhawks, who have just one playoff appearance (2020) in eight seasons.

Chicago acquired Jones from Columbus in July 2021, then acquired Hall from Boston in June 2023 amid what has become a nadir for an Original Six franchise. From the 2021-22 through the 2023-24 seasons, Chicago ranked last among 32 NHL teams in points (179 points) and points percentage (.364), next to last in wins (77 out of 246 games, ahead of only San Jose’s 73) and last in goals scored (593), according to Sportradar.tied it at 3 with his power-play goal and Matt Duchene then put the Stars ahead to stay.

That trio of power-play goals made the Stars the first team in Stanley Cup playoff history to earn multiple wins in regulation of the same postseason after being down two goals in the third period. In Game 7 of the first round against Colorado, Dallas overcame a 2-0 deficit in the third period on way to a 4-2 series-clinching win.Dallas is only the second team since 1934, when power-play goals were first officially tracked, to have three of them in the opening six minutes of a playoff period. The other was the New York Rangers, with three in the first 4:36 of the third period on way to a 7-2 win over Montreal in Game 1 of the 2014 Eastern Conference final.

While the Stars had that lingering goose egg from last year’s West final, then failed to convert on a power play 7 1/2 minutes into this series opener against Edmonton, they have been good on special teams throughout this postseason.They entered this series ranked third among playoff teams both for converting power plays (30.8%) and killing penalties (86.1%). Their power play was the best among any teams that played more than one round, and the teams better on PKs were Eastern Conference finalists Carolina and Florida.