The Dallas Stars will host the Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 of the second round of the NHL Playoffs on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. in American Airlines Center.
The two teams are coming off a very different first-round series. The Stars needed all seven games to defeat the Las Vegas Golden Knights, while the Avalanche dismantled the Winnipeg Jets in a high-scoring five-game series.
Dallas was led in their first series by center Wyatt Johnston, who scored a team-high four goals and contributed three assists.
Defenseman Miro Heiskanen led the team with four assists during the series while also averaging a team-high 27 minutes and 26 seconds spent on the ice each game.
One of the most impactful players during the Stars’ first series was goalie Jake Oettinger, who saved 92.5% of the shots sent his way and held the Golden Knights to 2.29 goals per game.
Stars Head Coach Pete Deboer said the Avalanche will pose a challenge, and the team is grateful that it will begin in Dallas. He noted that he is glad they “earned the right to have home-ice advantage.”
“I think that home ice and getting the first seed in the conference is going to be helpful, but it’s going to be a quick turnaround. We’re probably going to struggle with some fatigue at different points, but we have some depth, and we’ll see how it goes,” Deboer added, according to the NHL.
Dallas struggled against the Avalanche during the regular season, finishing with a 1-3 record in four matchups.
The singular win came during a 7-4 victory in Colorado on April 7, the pair’s final meeting during the regular season.
Although regular season matches do not indicate what will happen during the second round, Oettinger said the team felt like they “played a great game against them” in the last matchup and will try to emulate what worked.
“We should feel confident in what we just did. We showed that we can play that way or the more up-tempo game I’m guessing we’ll be getting from them. A couple of adjustments and let’s roll,” he said, per the NHL.
These adjustments will be critical for the Stars in this series, as the Avalanche has one of the fastest playstyles of any team in the NHL.
The Avalanche scored five or more goals in each of its five games against the Jets in the first round, with right-wing Valeri Nichushki scoring an incredible seven goals in the series.
