To even their second-round series, the Stars need more balanced scoring and better puck possession.
Coaches and players often talk about keeping your foot on the gas for a full 60 minutes.
Sounds nearly impossible. But as the Dallas Stars have discovered in five meetings with the Colorado Avalanche during the regular season and post-season combined, letting up is a recipe for heartbreak.
In their first meeting back on November 18, 2023, Dallas built a 3-0 lead only to see the Avalanche roar back with six unanswered goals for a 6-3 victory.
In the next meeting January 4, 2024, the Stars let a lead slip away late in regulation and fell 5-4 in overtime. The outcome was less in doubt February 27, as the Avs came away with a 5-1 win. Logan Stankoven scored for the second game in a row 60 seconds into the contest.
Dallas finally broke through in the final regular-season meeting April 7 with a 7-4 victory in Denver. Jamie Benn (1-2-3), Wyatt Johnston (1-2-3) and Thomas Harley (0-3-3) each had three-point performances.
On Tuesday, the ghosts of past Avalanche meetings came back to haunt Dallas in Game 1 of their Stanley Cup Second Round playoff series. After building a 3-0 lead in the first period, the Stars saw it evaporate over the next two periods, with the Avs taking a 1-0 lead in the series in a 4-3 overtime win.
"We shouldn't have got to overtime," Stars forward Matt Duchene said after Tuesday's loss. "You're up 3-0. I don't think we stayed on our toes enough, maybe in the second period we took our foot off the gas a little bit."
The Stars had complete control of the first period, scoring all three of their goals in the frame. They set the tone with puck possession and odd-man rushes, and even caused the Avs to commit penalties and defensive mistakes.
But after having just finished a hard-fought seven-game series against the Vegas Golden Knights less than two days earlier, it seemed inevitable the Stars would indeed run out of gas and the Avs would shake off the rust after being idle for almost a week following their 4-1 series win over the Winnipeg Jets.
Sure enough, Colorado tilted the ice in its favor with two goals in the second period and another in the third to tie the score. Dallas regained control in overtime and had several great chances, only to be stymied by Avs goalie Alexandar Georgiev before Miles Wood scored the game-winner at 11:03 of overtime. That completed yet another comeback by Colorado to put the Stars down 0-1 in the series.
Keys to Bouncing Back
It's a scenario Dallas has become all too familiar with, having dropped Game 1 in four out of the last six playoff series. They went into an 0-2 hole against Vegas in the previous round before bouncing back to take it in seven.
This series feels different, however. Falling behind 2-0 against a high-flying Avalanche squad before heading to the high altitude of Denver for the next two games is not a position the club wants to find itself in. At 31-9-1, Colorado sported the best home record in the NHL during the regular season. They won both games at Ball Arena against Winnipeg in their first-round series.
The Stars are certainly capable of winning on the road, having set franchise records both in road wins (26), points (57) and points percentage (.695%).
Heading to Denver with a 1-1 split is a much better scenario than being down 0-2. Can they find a way to take back the puck possession game, get better forechecking and keep the pressure on the Avs' defense for 60 minutes?
"We have to, obviously," Stars defenseman Esa Lindell said Wednesday. "It fits their game well if they get their rush and their players going. It's not easy, but it's a good test for us to do."
Marchment Is Back
Dallas head coach Pete DeBoer announced during the team's optional morning skate Thursday that forward Mason Marchment will be in the lineup for Game 2. Marchment has been out of the lineup after suffering an injury in the third period of Game 2 of the Stars' first-round series against Vegas.
Radek Faksa, who replaced Marchment, will be a healthy scratch.
Marchment will not only provide some much-needed scoring punch (he had 22 goals and 31 assists for 53 points during the regular season), but a physical presence as well. He was third on the team in hits (108) and takeaways (43).
Colorado won the physical battle in Game 1 with 46 hits compared to Dallas' 20. Marchment has one goal in two playoff games, which came in Game 1 against the Golden Knights.
"Twenty-plus goals, he's a big body, he's got a good skill level," DeBoer said. "He's played well with (Matt) Duchene and (Tyler) Seguin all year, so we've missed him in the lineup in a bunch of different areas."
Projected Lines:
(These lines are unofficial).
Robertson-Hintz-Pavelski
Benn-Johnston-Stankoven
Marchment-Duchene-Seguin
Steel-Dadonov-Smith
Harley-Heiskanen
Lindell-Tanev
Suter-Lundkvist
Oettinger
DeBoer had the best line of the week when asked about constant coaching turnover in the NHL and the difficulty in building relationships with players as a result: "It's like going on a date and getting married and divorced before the appetizers show up."
Puck drop for Thursday's Game 2 is set for 8:52 Pm CT. The game can be viewed on TNT with John Forslund on play-by-play, Eddie Olczyk (analyst) and Kathryn Tappen (reporter).
Tonight's referees: Frederick L'Ecuyer, Francis Charron and Jean Hebert.
Linespersons: Devin Berg and Ryan Daisy
Make sure you bookmark THN's Dallas Stars site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.
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