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Jason Kidd might not know a forecheck from a dinner check, but the Dallas Mavericks' point guard and his teammates would do well to brush up on their Stars hockey.

The Stars' 2-0 lead over defending champion Anaheim isn't exactly historic, at least not yet.

But even if it's still early – and don't worry, all you superstitious slugs, I'm not mapping any parade routes – the Stars are a lesson for their co-tenants at American Airlines Center.

Moral: You can, indeed, turn your organization on its head during the season, and it's almost never too late to turn it around.

Hey, Brenden Morrow, when did you feel like all the pieces finally fit?

"I would say ... not really until after the start of the first game against Anaheim," he said.

This realization probably is on par with Evel Knievel feeling good about his prospects about the time he's exiting the up ramp.

Even if the Stars' captain seems a little late to the party, he was no more dubious than the five SportsDay geniuses who went with the Ducks.

The nicest any of us could say back then was that it didn't look like a sweep.

What convinced Morrow around 9:20 p.m. CDT Thursday was the success of the power play and the Stars' "desperation level."

"Guys were playing as a pack," he said.

He didn't see that compatibility during the regular season. Chemistry has been an issue with the Stars since the Brad Richards trade on Feb. 26.

You think the Kidd deal was nervy? Before Richards played his first game with Dallas, the Stars had won 12 of 14.

"We were a hot team at the time," Morrow said.

Question: If the Mavs had been playing so well, would Devin Harris still be flitting about frantically in a Mavs uniform?

The Stars weren't thinking short-term success when the trade came up. Mike Modano said the consensus was, hot or not, something needed to be done.

Actually, the chain of events had already started with the two-headed GM that replaced Doug Armstrong. Credit Brett Hull and Les Jackson for a different atmosphere, which is not to be underestimated.

Still, it didn't look like they'd be taking turns with the executive of the year award when the Stars lost eight of nine after Richards' smashing debut.

Here's what went wrong: Expectations soared, Richards pressed, the team floundered.

Sound anything like the scenario after a certain point guard came to town?

As proved to be the case with Kidd, Richards needed time. He seems to have found his niche on a line with Joel Lundqvist and Loui Eriksson. In Game 2, Richards contributed a goal and an assist.

Even more importantly, his presence gives the Stars another scoring line against a wildly talented opponent.

Of course, we'd have no idea about the possibilities if the Stars hadn't made the playoffs, which brings us back to the Mavs.

Not so long ago, the conventional wisdom was that the Mavs would be better off if they finished in the lottery. Considering their record against teams .500 or better, how long would they last in the postseason?

Frankly, I'd have given the Mavs better odds against the Hornets, Lakers or Spurs than I would have predicted for the Stars against Anaheim.

And just think, the Mavs appear to have at least a two-week jump on the Stars' momentum.

"They seem to be coming around at the right time," said Modano, a longtime Mavs observer.

Even if the Mavs weren't playing better, Modano insists, the moral remains intact.

"It's just a matter," he said, "of getting in the playoffs."

Maybe it'll be a busy spring after all.