Over the season the Stars did well against the Avalanche, winning four games out of four.
As we learned last year versus the St. Louis Blues (Dallas won three out of four in the regular season, but lost in seven in the second round) the playoffs with over four months of no play on top things will be different. Just like Dallas, Colorado will have a fully healthy roster barring anything unfortunate in the exhibition matches.
The Colorado Avalanche are a team that as expected, finished in the top ten in goal scoring throughout the regular season. Maybe not as expected, finished in the top ten in goals against as well. While Dallas has the best goaltending tandem in the NHL Colorado also has two quality goalies in Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz. Eric Johnson also leads an opportunistic defensive corps along with Cale Makar.
One notable injury for the Stars back in March was Alexander Radulov, but he is now good to go. While not injured, Ben Bishop was dealing with a sore lower body but he will be 100 percent too. Colorado will also be healthier with the return of Colin Wilson (who hasn’t played since October 26th), and Mikko Rantanen used the hiatus to get his shoulder in game shape.
Photo: —I do believe the Stars can beat the Avalanche in the playoffs. Goalies Ben Bishop, and Anton Khudobin are the teams’ strongest part of the game plan. This includes a high scoring team that consists of Nathan MacKinnon, Gabriel Landeskog and Mikko Rantanen. One of the best defense corps in the NHL highlighted by John Klingberg, Esa Lindell, Miro Heiskanen and Bill Masterton candidate Stephen Johns is Stanley Cup caliber.
Tyler Seguin, Roope Hintz, and Denis Gurianov should provide the offensive firepower especially if all three of them are top six forwards. Secondary goal scoring from the likes of Alexander Radulov (who also tied former Star Mats Zucarello with five goals in team playoff scoring last postseason), Jason Dickinson and Mattias Janmark will also be important for a deep playoff run.
Everybody knows that this is an upcoming match to determine seeding for the top four teams in the west, but Dallas has the tools to translate regular-season success against Colorado into a playoff series win.
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