Colorado Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (39) prepares to make the save of a shot by Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston (53) as center Parker Kelly (17) looks on during the second period in game one of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images [https://deweb-519a7.b-cdn.net/post-images/72687d5f-1835-4261-b9e3-c4629cd78a4a.jpeg] Colorado Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (39) prepares to make the save of a shot by Dallas Stars center Wyatt Johnston (53) as center Parker Kelly (17) looks on during the second period in game one of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images To cap off the first day of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Colorado Avalanche put up five goals to the Dallas Stars [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/dallas-stars]' one to take Game 1 in their first-round series against the Dallas Stars. The Stars have had little luck in their seven past series openers, going 0-8 as of Saturday night. Even the end of their regular season looked bleak, with seven straight losses leading up to Saturday's game. Despite those statistics, Stars Head Coach Pete DeBoer said during his postgame availability that Saturday's loss was "probably the best game we've played in three or four weeks." This was evident, as through the first and most of the second period, the Stars looked like the better team. The Avalanche looked sluggish to start, capitalized by a lackluster 5-on-3 opportunity in the first period that only yielded three shots on goal. It seems that killing off that opportunity sparked a hefty amount of motivation for the Stars, which started to slowly dwindle as the Avalanche got strange bounces from Artturi Lehkonen and Nathan MacKinnon that both resulted in goals to put them ahead 2-0 going into the third period. Roope Hintz got the Stars on the board just under seven minutes into the third period, a late power-play goal scored as he tipped a shot ripped by Thomas Harley from the blue line. From there, the floodgates opened for the Avalanche, and they managed to put three more past Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger before the final buzzer sounded. Devon Toews buried a back-door goal off a long pass from Josh Manson, #42's first point since returning from an injury that's kept him out of the lineup since March 14th. Oettinger was pulled, and MacKinnon capitalized with an empty-net goal with just over 3 minutes remaining in regulation. Charlie Coyle punctuated the 5-1 win with a snap right in front of Oettinger that started with Parker Kelly winning a board battle and finding Jack Drury, who eventually found Coyle in front of the net. GOALTENDING WON OUT Mackenzie Blackwood has been in the NHL since the 2018-19 season when he debuted with the New Jersey Devils. Despite many years of experience, he has not played a single playoff game - that is, until Saturday night. With that said, he didn't miss a beat. Blackwood put on a Vezina Trophy-worthy performance on Saturday, the only goal allowed being a deflection that not many other goaltenders would have been able to stop even with a stick, which Blackwood was without when the puck got past him. Coach Bednar reiterated on Altitude Sports Radio on Wednesday that, while he thinks goaltender Scott Wedgewood has played extremely well lately, Blackwood is their starter. With multiple chances created by Dallas in the first 40 minutes, the Thunder Bay, Ontario native proved exactly why he deserves the role. His performance earned him the player-chosen big hat in the locker room postgame. With that said, and despite the three-goal onslaught in the third period, Oettinger also showed why he commands as much respect as he does in the league through the first 40 minutes of the game. Both goaltenders forced their opposition to create more challenging opportunities, whether it was a greasy goal like Lehkonen's, a deflection like Hintz's, or making the right pass at the right time like Manson to Toews. ROSS COLTON LEFT DURING THE THIRD The Colorado Avalanche went into Saturday's game with five healthy scratches - or five options, as Head Coach Jared Bednar alluded to following morning skate. One of those options may be stepping up in Monday's Game 2 as forward Ross Colton left Saturday's game in the third period with a lower-body injury. Coach Bednar said further updates can be expected on Sunday. Forward scratches include Jimmy Vesey, Miles Wood, and captain Gabriel Landeskog, who made his return to professional hockey on April 11th [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/colorado-avalanche/latest-news/physically-i-feel-great-gabriel-landeskog-ends-successful-weekend-series-with-a-goal-and-assist] in a game with the Colorado Eagles (Avalanche AHL affiliate). Matt Stienburg was also called up from the Eagles, per the playing roster posted on the NHL media site. Stienburg earned a 2-game suspension early in the regular season after a dangerous hit on Tampa Bay Lightning forward Erik Cernak [https://www.nhl.com/video/stienburg-suspended-two-games-6364051316112]. He served the first game on Saturday, so he will not be an option until after Game 2 on Monday. WHAT'S NEXT? The Avalanche look to continue their push in Dallas as they gear up for Game 2 on Monday, April 21st at 7:30 pm MT/8:30 pm CT. Games 3 and 4 will be played at Ball Arena in Denver on Wednesday, April 23rd, and Saturday, April 26th.
