Stars-Avalanche Series Preview

 2C Dallas vs Colorado 3C

We are back with another Playoff preview here on the ETEH Blog, so today we are looking at the 1st Series that was locked in the Western Conference playoff picture, as we're going to be looking at the Dallas Stars and the Colorado Avalanche, as the Stars late surge was not able to have them catch up to the Jets and as one of the top teams in the NHL they got 2nd in the Central and they're taking on the 3rd team in the Central in Colorado who thanks to a 2nd half surge got themselves from a wild card spot into a top 3 spot in the Central and a date in what will be the most entertaining series of RD1.. 

History of Rivalry Between teams in playoffs:

So when we look at these team’s rivalries in the playoffs this will actually be the 7th meeting between the Avalanche and Stars in the playoffs, now the first two times these teams played in a playoff series was 1999 and 2000 and the Stars wound up coming out on top in both series, then the next two meetings in the playoffs which was 2004 and 2006 the Avalanche took those series as that would even up the all time meeting, and then they have since played twice more, once back in 2020 in the bubble and the most recent time was just last year in RD2 of the playoffs and the Stars were able to take both of those series, so all time the Stars have the advantage 4-2 of the Avalanche but this Av’s team is scary and might be able to stop Dallas from winning 3 straight playoff meetings against them. 

Season Series Record: 

Dallas 1-1-1 13-11+2

Colorado 2-1-0 11-13-2

Perry Nelson Imagn Images

Each teams X-Factors: Rantanen vs Blackwood

Next we go over to the two teams X-Factors in my opinion for this series and the two X-Factors in my eyes are former Avalanche superstar Mikko Rantanen in Dallas and Av’s goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, now these two are think will be their respective teams X-Factors in this series as Rantanen was a extremely talented forward in Colorado for years and then was dealt to Carolina and then to Dallas this year, now he has been up and down this year but if Rantanen produces like he did a few years ago when the Av’s won the cup, I have a good inclination the Stars may come away with the series win, meanwhile I feel Blackwood has to be the X-Factor for the Av’s, now Blackwood has minimal playoff experience and has never gone into the playoffs as the clear cut number 1, so his play will be big for the Av’s because if he plays like he has in Colorado I think they should be able to win, but if he start being inconsistent like he was in New Jersey then that may be a big problem for the Avalanche.

Which teams are best at 3 Positions:

Offense: so between these two teams they stack up pretty well offensively as both have extremely lethal forward groups and can put the puck in the net easily, but even with the Stars maybe missing Seguin at the beginning of the playoffs, I feel Dallas has the advantage in the offensive side as the depth on that forward group is insane and they can get scoring from anywhere so I am giving the offensive advantage to Dallas

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Defence: now on the defensive side I would say that it is pretty close if the Stars had a healthy blueline and Heiskanen wasn’t injured and maybe didn’t miss the start of the playoffs, but I would say even with a healthy Heiskanen that the Avalanche have the better defence as the top pair of Toews and Makar is elite and the depth they have on the blueline is one of the best in the NHL so I would say advantage Avalanche in Net.

Goaltending: now goaltending in this series is very intriguing because you have Blackwood who has minimal playoff experience against Oettinger who has looked good and bad at times the last few playoff runs for the Stars, but in this series because of his playoff experience I am giving Oettinger and the Stars the advantage as I do feel that Oettinger is a solid goalie and may be the key to having Dallas win this series.

Biggest on Ice Matchup: Dallas top D pair vs Mackinnon and Necas

Now as for the biggest on ice matchup in this series, I would say it would have to be whoever the Stars put on that top D-Pair and how they do shutting down the elite duo of Necas and Mackinnon. Now this year have shown how good the duo of Mackinnon and Necas is as they are the driving force offensively of the Avalanche and even though the Av’s depth is better then it was earlier in the year, I have a feeling if you shutdown the Mackinnon, Necas Line and make them ineffective then the Stars have a solid shot of winning the series, so whoever’s they put on their top pair whether it be Heiskanen, Harley or Dumba, if they can shutdown the Av’s top line I like there chances, but if Mackinnon and Necas start tearing it up it may be a short series for the Stars.

Predictions:

Now when it comes to my predictions for this playoff series, I feel that this is going to be one of those series with ever so thin margins of error as both of thyrse teams stacked up at the deadline and are looking as lethal as any team can and I feel no matter who wins this series as it might as well be a toss up, it’s going the full 7 game distance, so there have been times I have picked the Av’s and picked the Stars but my final prediction will be the Stars once again taking down the Av’s in 7 games, as I feel at this point even with the banged up blueline, the depth on the forward group and experience of Oettinger are enough to just squeak by the Av’s and while it will be a long and gruelling series, I do think the Stars are thé team who will get the win.