Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson (6) and defenseman Cale Makar (8) warm-up prior to game one of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/ac6c158c-fc44-4aa3-a457-3d506a5f70c2.jpeg] Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson (6) and defenseman Cale Makar (8) warm-up prior to game one of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images Mackenzie Blackwood and the Colorado Avalanche [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche/latest-news/postgame-mackenzie-blackwood-puts-on-goaltending-clinic-in-avalanche-win-over-the-stars-in-game-one] put up quite the third-period performance in Game 1 of their first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Blackwood with 23 saves on 24 shots, Nathan MacKinnon with three points, and Logan O'Connor with a sneaky two-assist night made for an entertaining matchup for Colorado. They look to repeat the performance and hopefully get their skates underneath them a little earlier in Monday's Game 2 matchup. MORNING SKATE UPDATES FROM BEDNAR Ross Colton only took one shift early in the third period on Saturday, but was not on the bench for the rest of the game. He said nothing more was clear on his injury following Sunday's practice, but said Monday following morning skate that he was "not good." Reading between the lines, it's anticipated that Colton will not play tonight. Miles Wood also did not skate at today's optional morning skate, which is odd, seeing as he was a healthy scratch on Saturday. But something to keep an eye on: usually, the healthy scratches stay on longer than most of the players skating, but Gabe Landeskog was one of the first guys off the ice. Bednar went as far as to say Landeskog is an option in Colton's absence. TRADE ACQUISITIONS MAKING A SPLASH It seems the only guy on a new team still trying to find his feet is Mikko Rantanen. He was a -2 on the night with 18:03 of ice time and three shots on goal. While it was Dallas' first good-looking game in a few weeks, there's still a lot more to be done on their front offensively. > It's just one game. I think there's some good things, especially defensively. > I think we defended pretty well. Obviously, they earned a couple of bounces in > the first two goals...But I think defensively, we've got to keep doing what we > did, break out well, and stay inside all the time. I think, offensively, we > can do a little bit more, try to get more inside and put some pressure on > their [defense], a very mobile [defense], so try to stay on top of them a > little bit more. - Mikko Rantanen on Dallas's focus during Monday's game. On Colorado's end, guys like Charlie Coyle, Jack Drury, and Martin Necas each had a point in Saturday's game and all went +1 on the night. Necas had almost double the amount of ice time teammate Drury did, and was flying for all 20 minutes. In the 11:38 Drury played on Saturday, he had a 72.7% success rate in the faceoff dot and had an incredible deflected pass to earn an assist on Coyle's goal. Emotion can play a huge role in Rantanen's lack of contribution on Saturday, as finding yourself playing against the team you spent 10 years with in the first round on a new team can be distracting to your game. Don't anticipate his silence to last long. If Landeskog's debut in Loveland has proved anything, it's that the second day of play can provide more success. The heaviness of the emotion surrounding the first game is not nearly as overwhelming, and provides a better opportunity to focus on the game at hand and what needs to be done to improve. WHERE/HOW TO FIND THE GAME: Puck Drop: 7:52 pm MT/ 8:52 pm MT T.V. Broadcast: ESPN, SN360, TVAS-D, Altitude (Colorado), Victory+ (Dallas) Radio Broadcast: Altitude Sports Radio 92.5 (Colorado), Sportsradio 96.7 (Dallas)
