Several are gone for good.

“It may not work, and I have to be OK with that,” Berrios said. “I think it’s worth the shot.”Now two U.S. companies aim to begin the world’s first clinical trials of xenotransplantation in 2025 –

to try to save human lives. Would-be volunteers are impatient to see if they’ll qualify as researchers fine-tune how best to test if the humanized pig organs they’ve designed might really work.Anticipation is growing with news that an Alabama woman was faring well after a pig kidney transplant at NYU in late November. Towana Looney is the fifth American to receive a gene-edited pig organ, each case so far an emergency experiment for people out of options.Pig kidney recipient Towana Looney sits with transplant surgeon Dr. Jayme Locke on Dec. 10, 2024, at NYU Langone Health, in New York City. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)

Pig kidney recipient Towana Looney sits with transplant surgeon Dr. Jayme Locke on Dec. 10, 2024, at NYU Langone Health, in New York City. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)None of the previous recipients — two given

— survived more than

but that hasn’t deterred researchers hunting an alternative to the dire shortage of transplantable organs.against Florida, the reigning champion in its third consecutive final series.

Before Dallas and Florida this year, three other teams made three consecutive conference finals under the current playoff format adopted in 1994. Los Angeles and Chicago won two Stanley Cup titles during their runs, and Detroit won once. Tampa Bay made three Stanley Cup Finals in a row from 2020-22, winning the first two — the Lightning were awarded the Prince of Wales Trophy as the East champ in 2021, when there were no conference-based playoffs because of the COVID-19 pandemic.As deep as the Stars have gone in each of coach Pete DeBoer’s three seasons, they haven’t been able to get to that final round.

This was the fourth West final in six seasons for the Stars, who in the Canadian bubble in the pandemic-impacted 2020 playoffs eliminated DeBoer-coached Vegas in five games. Dallas then lost in six games to Tampa Bay.“You’ve got to keep knocking on the door,” DeBoer said. “It’s a really, really hard league to win in. When you get down to the end, to the final four here, it gets exponentially tougher. ... We chased every single game in this series, and that’s a tough way to play hockey against that team.”