Stars vs. Avalanche Game 1 Preview: Dallas Prepares to Face Division Foe On Short Rest

Stephen Kerr

May 7, 2024, 16:56

Stephen Kerr

May 7, 2024, 16:56

After eliminating the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights in Game 7 Sunday, the Stars must re-focus quickly for their second-round series.

When the puck drops Tuesday night at American Airlines Center for Game 1 of their second-round series against the Colorado Avalanche, it will be less than 48 hours since the Dallas Stars took Game 7 of the series against the Vegas Golden Knights.

That's not much time to recover from what was a grueling, hard-fought seven games. Meanwhile, the Avs, who took care of the Winnipeg Jets in five games of their opening-round series a week ago, have been watching and waiting for their next opponent.

On the surface, it may seem to be a disadvantage for the Stars. But prior to the start of Game 1 against the Golden Knights, Dallas had nearly a week to rest up, and found themselves in a 2-0 hole after the first two games of the series.

Stars head coach Pete DeBoer is one who prefers jumping right into the next round, especially when the two teams are very familiar with each other.

"A lot of times, in those situations, it can be an advantage rolling right into the beginning of another series," DeBoer said Sunday after the Game 7 win over Vegas. "We'll hope that is the case. It's another big test, a huge test."

After the Game 7 victory, the Stars joined Colorado as the only two teams to win a best-of-seven series against the reigning Stanley Cup champions after losing the first two games at home. The Avalanche eliminated the Detroit Red Wings in similar fashion during the 1999 Conference Semifinals.

On top of being division rivals, the Stars and Avs have a deep playoff history against each other. This will be the sixth face-to-face meeting in the post-season, with Dallas holding a 3-2 edge, including their most recent matchup in the 2020 Second Round, which the Stars won in seven games.

During the regular season, Colorado won three of the four meetings against the Stars. But that often means little in the post-season; Dallas was 0-1-2 against Vegas during the regular season before dispatching them in the first round of the post-season.

The Avs won the first two meetings, 6-3 and 5-4 in overtime. But Dallas took the most recent meeting 7-4 April 7 in Denver. The victory came on the second night of a back-to-back after the Stars dropped a 3-2 decision in Chicago against the Blackhawks.

Colorado poses a much different threat than the Golden Knights, particularly on offense. In the Winnipeg series, the club averaged 5.60 goals per game, best in the league. After dropping the opening game 7-6, the Avs took complete control in the next four games, outscoring the Jets by 14. They became the fourth team in NHL playoff history to score at least five goals in each of its first five playoff games.

The threesome of Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen all tied for the team lead in points with nine. Arturi Lehkonen was right behind them with eight, and Valeri Nichushkin tallied seven.

Wyatt Johnston paced the Stars with seven points, while Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen each had five. Dallas averaged 2.29 goals per game in the Vegas series, but allowed only 2.29, with each team totaling 16 goals apiece for the series.

Chris Tanev, among the league leaders in blocked shots during the regular season, had 27 against the Golden Knights. He also did not allow a goal at even strength when he was on the ice.

Colorado averaged 37 shots per game in their series with Winnipeg and allowed 28. The Stars averaged 28.6 while allowing 27.0 against the Golden Knights.

On the power play, Colorado was third in the NHL during the first round at 37.5%; the Stars were fifth at 28.6%. The Avs had a slight edge on the penalty-kill, 76.9%, seventh, to 75.0%, ninth.

As good as the Stars were against Vegas defensively, particularly in the third period, they'll need to be even better against a fast, high-octane Colorado offense. While they can't afford to get into a track meet, they also need to be aggressive and take the game to Colorado.