Miro Heiskanen is the team's leading scorer with 13 points (three goals, 10 assists) in 10 games and also leads the team in time on ice at 26:03. John Klingberg is third in scoring on the Stars with eight points (one goal, seven assists) and is third at 24:07. Jamie Oleksiak has been a pleasant surprise with two goals and two assists in 21:36 time on ice. He also leads the team in plus-minus at plus-9. And Esa Lindell has been a workhorse, logging 24:45 in ice time and leading the team with 25 blocked shots.
"They've all raised their game to another level," Bowness said. "The team is built around those guys. A kid like Miro is taking his game to another level. John Klingberg has been very reliable, very consistent, competing hard. We know what Esa is going to do, he's going to go and battle every shift. And Big Rig, he's played great for us all year. Are we surprised by that, No. Are we very happy to another level? Yes, that's great."
Heiskanen has been the driving force. The 21-year-old who was taken third overall in 2017, has been the team's most consistent player in the postseason. He carries the puck with calm and also anticipates plays and reads the opposition very well.
"He's very mature and he just understands the game," assistant coach John Stevens said. "He has terrific hockey sense."
In the Stars' comeback win against Calgary in Game 6, Heiskanen had a spectacular play that stopped the bleeding with the Stars down 3-0. Bowness said it was the kind of play that changes a game.
"Tonight, as a coach, you need someone on your bench to step up and say 'OK, jump on my back. I'm going to get this thing turned around,'" Bowness said. "Miro did that. He got that big power play goal for us, and he settled things down. You could see early in the game, we couldn't make a pass, couldn't make a five-foot pass. All of a sudden, Miro just took the game over. He's an exceptional player. He's an exceptional person. He does have Norris Trophy written all over him."
Heiskanen said he just reads the game, and he shows that kind of simple decision-making at even the most pressure-filled moments. But by doing so, he has rubbed off on his new partner Oleksiak. The 27-year-old was a first-round pick (14th overall) for the Stars in 2011. He struggled to become a consistent performer and was traded to Pittsburgh in 2017. After some strong games with the Penguins, Oleksiak was traded back to the Stars in 2019.