After a calamitous end to the regular season for the Dallas Stars, the team must turn the page immediately as their first round match-up against the Colorado Avalanche begins Saturday night.
It is no easy opening round series, and much like last season against Vegas, the Stars get a battle-tested and star-studded Avalanche team in what is by far the juiciest match-up of the first round. It took the Stars all they could handle last year to dispatch Vegas in seven games, and it might take even more fortitude this year to move past Colorado with all that has gone on prior to the start of the series.
One of the most exciting parts of the series is Mikko Rantanen immediately facing off against his former team, who traded him to Carolina mid-season in what was a shocking trade to everyone, Rantanen included. The Finn will surely have mixed emotions going against his former team and close friends, but will no doubt look to make a statement that Colorado should regret ever trading him.
That is just one of many storylines stirring around Dallas coming into the series. Aside from the seven game losing streak the team finished the regular season on, the Stars also lost Jason Robertson, who had 80 points in 82 games and was one of the most prolific scorers in 2025, on a week-to-week basis. Robertson was injured in the regular season finale against the Nashville Predators.
Defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who is usually the sole person who can truly shut down Nathan MacKinnon in games against Colorado, remains out for the time being. Heiskanen skated with the team for the first time since his injury and has been moved to a day-to-day status, but it is still fully up in the air when he might be able to draw into the lineup.
Sticking with the defense, head coach Pete DeBoer has made a surprising change among one of the regulars that played most of the regular season. Matt Dumba, who paired with Lian Bichsel almost exclusively after Heiskanen went out, will start the series as a healthy scratch. Alexander Petrovic, who was asked to play in place of Nils Lundkvist at the end of the Avalanche series last season, once again gets the nod on the third pair, this time next to Bichsel.
In the forward group, the lines shift with the loss of Robertson. Mikael Granlund and Evgenii Dadonov move up with Roope Hintz, and Rantanen goes with Jamie Benn and Wyatt Johnston.
Tyler Seguin rejoined his usual linemates Matt Duchene and Mason Marchment for his first game since the early season on Wednesday, and Seguin's health and rust level will surely be closely monitored as the grueling series moves along.
Colin Blackwell is the scratch among forwards, with Oskar Back lining up with Sam Steel and Mavrik Borque on the fourth line.
Esa Lindell and Cody Ceci remain paired together, as do Thomas Harley and Ilya Lyubushkin.
Jake Oettinger unsurprisingly starts in goal.
Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. and can be seen on TNT and truTV, as well as streaming on Max and locally on Victory+.
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