One season ago, the Dallas Stars went down 0-2 in their first round series to the Vegas Golden Knights but clawed their way back to advance, but the Stars are desperate not to relive that fight again this season against the Colorado Avalanche.

With eight Game 1 losses in a row now for the Stars - dating all the way back to the Stanley Cup Final against Tampa Bay in the COVID bubble - Dallas is used to facing deficits in a seven game series. But with eight losses in a row including the first game's 5-1 defeat, it is more critical than ever for Dallas to win a game at home to even the series headed to Colorado.

Dallas played well for most of Game 1, including a near-miss from Mason Marchment that would have tied the game 2-2 halfway through the third period. But Colorado went the other way and scored a dagger right after the Marchment chance to go up 3-1, and the game was essentially over at that moment.

It was unfortunate for the Stars, who had the crowd behind them as loud as ever, fueled by an early 5-on-3 penalty kill that had fans screaming at the top of their lungs. The difficulty came in beating Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, who held tight until Colorado not only scored first, but padded their lead to a two-goal cushion.

Blackwood robbed three sure-fire looking scoring opportunities for Dallas, and did enough to keep the Avalanche ahead all game.

It feels pretty critical for Dallas to take the lead in Game 2 Monday night, but it has been a bit of an issue maintaining leads during their losing streak, especially in the third period. Once again, Dallas allowed three goals in the third, following a trend of high scoring third periods by their opponents.

Dallas played really well at times this season, including as recently as their stretch after the Four Nations Face-off break, where they looked hungry and ready to destroy any opponent in their way. The team simply has to find that energy and style of play again, because Colorado looks extremely hungry to get revenge for last season's series loss and will not wait around for the Stars to figure their struggles out.

It might be alarming to say after only one playoff game that Dallas faces a must-win game, but how long can they keep losing before it is too late?

The Stars certainly don't want to find out.

Puck drop is at 8:30 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN and locally on Victory+.

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