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The Dallas Stars host the Colorado Avalanche in Game 5 of their first-round NHL Stanley Cup playoffs series tonight at 9:30 PM ET. Colorado evened the series at two with a 4-0 victory at home in Game 4.
The Stars eliminated Colorado from last year’s playoffs in the second round before the Avalanche took 2-of-3 during the regular season this year. Dallas, the No. 2 seed in the Central Division, has reached the Western Conference finals each of the past two years. Colorado has made the playoffs eight straight years and won the Stanley Cup in 2022.
Let’s break down each team’s play in Game 4 while previewing tonight’s matchup and our Avalanche @ Stars NHL pick.
After losing two straight in the series, the Avalanche responded with a decisive Game 4 effort at home, winning 4-0.
The game will be remembered for captain Gabriel Landeskog’s first goal in 1,041 days. He played his first game in nearly three years in a Game 3 loss to the Stars on Wednesday. His tally Saturday night was the first since a two-goal effort in Game 3 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning on June 20, 2022. The Avalanche won that series in six games. Landeskog also added an assist on the game’s final goal by Samuel Girard midway through the third period. The Avalanche outshot Dallas by a 48-to-23 margin.
Nathan MacKinnon and Logan O’Connor also scored for Colorado. MacKinnon, a seven-time All-Star and the defending Hart Memorial Trophy winner as the NHL’s MVP leads the Avalanche with 4 goals and 5 points in the series. O’Connor is second with 2 goals and 3 assists, and Jonathan Drouin has 3 assists in the series. Brock Nelson had 2 assists, while Drouin, Devin Toews, and Josh Manson each had 1 assist.
MacKenzie Blackwood made 23 saves to preserve the shutout. He has manned the pipes all four games for Colorado, allowing just 7 goals and making 107 saves so far in the series.
After winning two straight games in overtime, the Stars could not muster any offense in Denver. Jake Oettinger made 31 saves before getting pulled for the first time in the series. Casey DeSmith relieved him and stopped 13-of-14 shots. The Stars need to recoup some of the magic they exhibited in Games 2 and 3. Colin Blackwell scored 17:46 into overtime to win Game 2 for Dallas, 4-3, while Tyler Seguin was the hero in Game 3, scoring 5:31 into overtime for a 2-1 triumph.
However, the team has scored just 7 goals through four games and needs more production out of its leading scorers. Matt Duchene led the team with 52 assists and 82 points this year but has gone scoreless this series. Jason Robertson led Dallas with 35 goals and was second with 80 points, but he suffered a lower-body injury in the team’s regular-season finale, a 5-1 loss to the Nashville Predators, and has yet to play in this series. Wyatt Johnston had 33 goals and 71 points but has just 2 assists in the series, and Roope Hintz (28 G, 39 A, 67 P) has just 1 goal.
Thomas Harley leads the team with a goal and 2 assists, Seguin has scored twice, and Jamie Benn has a goal and an assist. Oettinger has made 115 saves.
This was one of the best series before the postseason began and four games in, it is living up to its billing. Both teams can win the Western Conference and reach the Stanley Cup Finals. Despite the loss in Denver, the Stars look poised to return home and pick up another tight victory. At the same time, Colorado, which has outscored Dallas 13-7 through four games, can easily take the next two and advance to the second round.
One key for tonight and the rest of the series is Dallas’ ability, or lack thereof, of stopping MacKinnon. He finished second in the league with 116 points this season and tied for first with 84 assists. He also had 32 goals, including five in his last 10 regular season contests. That scoring streak has continued into the playoffs, where he’s recorded tallies in three games so far against a team that held him to 3 assists in three regular-season matchups.
No matter the outcome tomorrow night, look for MacKinnon to stay hot and score at least one goal.
Brian has been writing about sports professionally for 25 years, specializing in the NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, men's college basketball and football, and soccer. He covered high school, collegiate and professional sports in the Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area for two decades. His written work has appeared in several print and online publications since 1999.