Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche Pick & Prediction MAY 1st 2025
Preview and Prediction
One year later and a round earlier, the Dallas Stars find themselves in a familiar position - heading to Denver with the opportunity to end the Colorado Avalanche's season.
In Game 5 on Monday night, Dallas dominated with a 6-2 victory, taking a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference quarterfinal series. Now, they have the chance to advance with a win in Game 6 on Thursday night.
It's a similar scenario, but with a different twist. This season, Mikko Rantanen is playing for the Stars instead of the Avalanche, and he could play a crucial role in sending his former team home for the summer.
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Rantanen scored his first goal of the postseason in Monday's game, relieving some pressure off of the Finnish player.
"It's a huge relief for him," said Dallas coach Peter DeBoer. "You could see how happy our guys were for him. They can feel the weight he's been carrying around. However, I must mention how professional he has been in his approach every day. It's always been about the team first."
Despite only leading for a combined 61 minutes in the series, the Stars have managed to take a 3-2 lead. They have been successful in shutting down Colorado's power play and scoring timely goals, including two in overtime.
While the Avalanche have outscored Dallas 15-13 in the series, they have only converted on 17.7 percent of their power-play opportunities. In comparison, the Stars have scored on 22.2 percent of their chances.
Colorado has been averaging 33.2 shots per game, which is the third-highest among all 16 playoff teams. However, they have struggled to find the back of the net at times.
"You can look at all the numbers you want, but if you're not putting those in the net, you're not going to win at the end of the night," said Avalanche forward Jonathan Drouin.
Dallas has had a balanced offensive attack in the first five games, with four players scoring two goals and 16 skaters registering at least one point.
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Goaltender Jake Oettinger had a rough start in Game 1 (a 5-1 loss) and Game 4 (a 4-0 loss), but he bounced back with two strong performances in overtime wins, and again in Monday's game.
If Colorado fails to win on Thursday, it will be a disappointing end to a season that saw the team make several roster changes. However, it would also mark the third time in the last six seasons that the Stars have eliminated their division rival, and the fifth time in seven different postseasons dating back to 1999.
The key to avoiding an early exit for the Avalanche could be goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, one of 11 new additions to the team this season. He entered Game 5 leading all NHL goaltenders in save percentage (.939) and was second in goals against.
However, after allowing five goals on just 13 shots in Game 5 - including a fluky goal in the first nine seconds of the game - Blackwood's numbers have dropped to ninth in save percentage and eighth in goals against.
"I've let in bad goals before, but it's tough when it happens twice in the first period of a playoff game," Blackwood said. "It's unfortunate, but there's nothing I can do about it now. I just have to reset and move on."
Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche Recap MAY 17TH 2024
Matt Duchene scored at 11:42 of the second overtime and the Dallas Stars wrapped up their Western Conference semifinal series with a 2-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 6 on Friday in Denver.
Duchene, who played his first nine NHL seasons for the Avalanche, picked up a rebound right of the crease and lifted a wrister over Alexandar Georgiev to send Dallas to the Western Conference finals.
The Stars will have home-ice advantage against either the Canucks or the Oilers in the next round. Vancouver holds a 3-2 edge in its best-of-seven set heading into Game 6 on Saturday at Edmonton.
Duchene atoned for his goaltender-interference infraction in the first overtime that wiped away a potential Mason Marchment goal at 12:31. He also had a chance to win it when he came in alone 25 seconds into the second overtime, but Georgiev made a lunging save.
Jamie Benn also scored and Jake Oettinger had 29 saves for the Stars, including two big ones in the second overtime.
Mikko Rantanen had a goal and Georgiev turned away 36 shots for the Avalanche, who lost all three home games in the series after having the best home record in the NHL during the regular season.
Both teams had chances in a tight-checking first period. Dallas winger Evgenii Dadonov's backhander at a wide-open net went off the outside of the post. In the final minute, Colorado's Artturi Lehkonen nearly scored on a rebound, but Oettinger got a pad on it and Dadonov kept it out of the net.
The Avalanche cashed in on their only power play when Rantanen roofed a shot over Oettinger's left shoulder at 5:48 of the second period.
It was his fourth goal of the playoffs and the first time in the series the Avalanche scored first.
The Stars tied it at 1:56 of the third period. Benn got a pass from Dadonov as he skated down the slot, deked Georgiev and slid a backhand in for his third goal of the postseason.
Dallas was without top center Roope Hintz for the second straight game with an upper-body injury. Stars defenseman Nils Lundkvist also was out, and Alexander Petrovic took his place on the third pairing.
Colorado was missing fourth-line center Yakov Trenin, who left Game 5 with an injury. Chris Wagner took his spot in the lineup.