Avalanche vs. Stars playoff preview
No. 2 Colorado Avalanche vs. No. 3 Dallas Stars
Avalanche: 4-1 to take Western Conference First Round in opposition to No. 7 Arizona Coyotes; 2-1-0 (four components) in Qualifiers round-robin; 42-20-8, .657 components share in fashioned season
Stars: 4-2 to take Western Conference First Round in opposition to No. 6 Calgary Flames; 1-2-0 (two components) in Qualifiers round-robin; 37-24-8, .594 components share in fashioned season
Season sequence: COL 0-2-2; DAL 4-0-0
Sport 1 is Saturday (8 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVAS, SN)
The Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars will meet for the fifth time within the Stanley Cup Playoffs after they starting up the Western Conference 2d Round.
Dallas final played on Thursday, a 7-3 victory in opposition to the Calgary Flames; Colorado on Wednesday, a 7-1 victory in opposition to the Arizona Coyotes.
“I love starting up as soon as imaginable, to be ravishing with you,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar acknowledged. “I mediate time on the general looks to toddle somewhat slowly right here within the bubble, which we chanced on out for the first couple weeks when we were taking half in every third day and had a whereas earlier than our first sport. After which after we style of obtained into the sequence with Arizona, time seemed to head a minute sooner. No dash. The comfort of attending to the rink. It is ravishing admire sport day is huge.
“Clearly there is a center of attention there on what you have gotten to invent, and then the days in between games, there is a complete lot of time to get some leisure and put together to play the next evening. We’re liking the reality we invent no longer have too worthy shatter day in between games. I’m particular Dallas is style of the an identical blueprint. Correct wait on taking half in. It is what we’re all right here to invent, is play hockey games and no longer essentially note and have days off.”
The Stars and Avalanche have shatter up their four playoff sequence; Dallas won within the 1999 and 2000 Western Conference Final, every in seven games. Colorado won within the 2004 and 2006 Western Conference Quarterfinals, every in 5 games.
Defenseman Miro Heiskanen leads the Stars with 12 components (three targets, 9 assists) within the postseason. Anton Khudobin, on the general the backup to Ben Bishop, is 4-3-0 with a 2.49 targets-in opposition to sensible and .919 set share. Bishop (1-1-0, 4.04, .862) changed into unfit to play within the final four games of the sequence in opposition to Calgary.
Video: DAL@CGY, Gm6: Heiskanen one-times PPG past Talbot
Ahead Nathan MacKinnon leads all NHL avid gamers with 13 components (four targets, 9 assists) within the postseason. He’s one in every of three Avalanche avid gamers to have reached double digits in components, joined by forwards Nazem Kadri (11 components; six targets, 5 assists), and Mikko Rantanen (10 components; three targets, seven assists). Philipp Grubauer (5-0-1,1.49 GAA, .937 set share) has began six of the eight postseason games.
“I mediate we’re going to invent admire we did within the first round and center of attention on us, and we’re going to must make expend of every person on the ice to substantiate we’re ready for the 2d round,” Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard acknowledged. “Everybody knows that’s going to be more worthy and more worthy, so we’re going to prefer to be ready for the 2d round and assemble particular we’re on the an identical page.”
The Stars won all four fashioned-season games in opposition to the Avalanche, but the Avalanche won 4-0 in opposition to the Stars on Aug. 5 within the round-robin portion Stanley Cup Qualifiers.
The Stars and Avalanche every improved to the 2d round for the 2d straight season.
Sport breakers
Avalanche: MacKinnon, a finalist within the balloting for the Hart Trophy, awarded to the player voted the NHL’s most treasured player, is on an eight-sport level chase. It is tied for the 2d-longest chase to launch a postseason in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history with Peter Forsberg and Milan Hejduk (both 2000-01), Joe Sakic (1996-97) and Michel Goulet (1984-85). Sakic had a 10-sport chase in 1995-96. MacKinnon had 10 components (three targets, seven assists) in 5 games in opposition to Arizona. He has 42 components (15 targets, 27 assists) in 33 NHL playoff games.
Stars: Heart Joe Pavelski has delivered what the Stars hoped after they signed him to a three-twelve months free agent contract July 1, 2019. In 9 postseason games, he has six targets to fragment the NHL lead with four avid gamers. Seven of Pavelski’s eight components (six targets, two assists) have reach at even energy.
Video: ARI@COL, Gm5: Rantanen, MacKinnon join twice
Goaltending
Avalanche: Philipp Grubauer established himself as the No. 1 chance sooner than Pavel Francouz by a success his four starts in opposition to the Coyotes; he had a shutout, a 1.00 GAA and a .953 set share. Grubauer went 0-2-2 in opposition to Dallas within the fashioned season with a 2.45 GAA and a .927 set share. He has played in 22 NHL postseason games, going 13-6-1. “[Grubauer] changed into out of the ordinary,” Bednar acknowledged. “He changed into ravishing there for us the total blueprint, almost very finest within the sequence. I loved every thing he did for us within the sequence. We’ve reach to inquire it from him.”
Stars: Anton Khudobin has taken over after Bishop changed into ruled unfit to play after his one playoff starting up, a 5-4 soak up Sport 2 exact thru which he made 22 saves. The 34-twelve months-used is 4-3 within the postseason with a 2.49 GAA and a .919 set share. Khudobin has played 11 NHL seasons but his seven starts this season are the first of his postseason profession. Earlier than this season, he had played in two playoff games, one in 2018 for the Boston Bruins and one final season with the Stars, every as a midgame replacement.
Numbers to perceive
Avalanche: Colorado scored seven targets in every of the final two games of the sequence in opposition to Arizona, its most in a playoff sport since an 8-2 take in opposition to the San Jose Sharks in Sport 2 of the Western Conference 2d Round in 2002.
Stars: Dallas has been outscored 11-5 within the first length within the postseason, allowing the most opening-length targets. The Stars have allowed the first purpose seven times in 9 games and are 3-4 in those games.
X-components
Avalanche: Kadri, the 2d-line center, has taken the scoring burden off MacKinnon. His 11 components (six targets, 5 assists) are tied with Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks for fourth in postseason scoring. His 5 energy-play targets lead the NHL. He had seven components (5 targets, two assists) in 5 games within the first round. Kadri had 10 components (three targets, seven assists) and 58 penalty minutes in 19 playoff games with the Toronto Maple Leafs; he hasn’t been penalized this postseason.
Stars: Ahead Denis Gurianov had a breakout sport with four targets and an wait on in Sport 6 in opposition to Calgary, and had seven components (six targets, one wait on) within the sequence. Right here’s the 23-twelve months-used’s first time taking half in within the playoffs. After he made a main affect in opposition to Calgary, Gurianov’s his comfy arms and quickness might perhaps assemble him a big teach in opposition to the swift Avalanche.
Video: DAL@CGY, Gm6: Gurianov recordsdata four-purpose sport
They acknowledged it
“I most with out a doubt mediate we’re ready to assemble that next step, no query. We’ve been a neighborhood for the most section that’s been together for the final three, four years. We’ve grown together and been thru the depraved and we silent have work to invent. But the neighborhood that we have now in our locker room has heaps of persona and obviously we’ve seen the product that we can placed on the ice when we invent our job and work together as a neighborhood and work for one more. We can invent some in fact exact things. Now we have heaps of work to invent, though.” — Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog
“There’s usaand downs. That’s playoffs. It is a chain. [Calgary was] a crew that performs sharp and were coming out of the play-in round where they played exact hockey and it changed into going to be a big test for us. Correct self assurance in determining our sport works. It is a big dedication to play a particular blueprint, but it be the playoffs ravishing now and guys are struggling with for one one more ravishing now and got right here up with some huge performs alongside the blueprint.” — Stars forward Joe Pavelski
Will take if …
Avalanche: MacKinnon and Kadri continue to manual a balanced attack that has gotten a purpose from 14 avid gamers and a degree from 17 avid gamers in eight postseason games.
Stars: If they get more from their high line. The Stars want aid from Tyler Seguin (three assists in eight postseason games), Jamie Benn (four components; two targets, two assists in 9 games) and Alexander Radulov (three components; two targets, one wait on in 9 games). The three avid gamers have mixed for seven even-energy components within the postseason (Benn three, Radulov three, Seguin one).
Avalanche projected lineup
Gabriel Landeskog — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Andre Burakovsky — Nazem Kadri — Joonas Donskoi
Tyson Jost — J.T. Compher – Valeri Nichushkin
Matt Nieto — Pierre-Edouard Bellemare — Matt Calvert
Ryan Graves — Cale Makar
Samuel Girard – Ian Cole
Nikita Zadorov – Erik Johnson
Philipp Grubauer
Pavel Francouz
Scratched: Model Barberio, Shane Bowers, Bowen Byram, Kevin Connauton, Sheldon Dries, Michael Hutchinson, Tyson Jost, Anton Lindholm, Logan O’Connor, Conor Timmins, T.J. Tynan
Unfit to play: Vladislav Namestnikov, Colin Wilson
Stars projected lineup
Jamie Benn — Tyler Seguin — Alexander Radulov
Mattias Janmark — Joe Pavelski — Denis Gurianov
Roope Hintz — Jason Dickinson — Corey Perry
Andrew Cogliano — Radek Faksa — Blake Comeau
Esa Lindell — John Klingberg
Jamie Oleksiak — Miro Heiskanen
Andrej Sekera — Taylor Fedun
Anton Khudobin
Jake Oettinger
Scratched: Reduce Caamano, Ty Dellandrea, Justin Dowling, Joel Kiviranta, Jason Robertson, Gavin Bayreuther, Joel Hanley, Thomas Harley, Landon Bow, Jake Oettinger
Unfit to play: Stephen Johns, Ben Bishop