After another opening game disappointment, the Dallas Stars will try to rebound when they host the Colorado Avalanche on Monday in Game 2 of their first-round Stanley Cup playoff series.
Dallas has lost the first game of each of its last eight postseason series, following the team’s 5-1 loss to Colorado in Game 1 on Saturday. The Stars still won four of those seven previous series, including a second-round triumph over the Avalanche last year.
“We don’t want to be in this situation, but we’ve had a lot of experience being down 1-0 in a series … Playoff time, you’re going to lose games, you’re going to win games. The most important game is the next game,” Dallas forward Wyatt Johnston said.
Beyond the streak of Game 1 defeats, Saturday’s loss also continued the Stars’ season-ending winless skid. Dallas was 0-5-2 in its last seven games of the regular season.
Game 1 was closer than the final score might indicate, as the Avalanche held only a 2-1 edge heading into the final eight minutes of regulation. Devon Toews scored 12:56 into the third period to extend Colorado’s lead, and Nathan MacKinnon (empty-netter) and Charlie Coyle put the game away in the final four minutes by scoring twice in an 11-second span.
Jake Oettinger stopped only 19 of 23 shots, though it was something of a hard-luck outing for the Dallas goaltender due to two deflected Avalanche goals.
Playing in his first NHL playoff game, Mackenzie Blackwood looked sharp in stopping 23 of 24 shots. Blackwood’s lack of playoff experience had been cited as a potential weak link for Colorado, but MacKinnon felt such concerns were overblown.
“Prepare your best, do your best and see where the chips fall,” MacKinnon said. “I think that’s all you can really do. It doesn’t matter (if it’s) Game 40 or Game 1 of the playoffs. You know, (Blackwood)’s an amazing goalie … He made some huge saves (Saturday). It easily could have been 2-2 and all of a sudden it’s 5-1.”
MacKinnon missed the last three games of the regular season due to an unspecified injury but returned in his usual superstar form by recording two goals and an assist in Game 1. It was MacKinnon’s 13th postseason game with at least three points, and his average of 1.31 points per playoff game is the highest in Avalanche franchise history.
The two goals were the 49th and 50th tallies of MacKinnon’s playoff career, making him the 68th player in NHL history to hit the 50-goal threshold in the postseason.
Avalanche forward Ross Colton is questionable for Game 2 after leaving early in the third period of Game 1 with a lower-body injury.
Gabriel Landeskog has been practicing with the Avalanche and could make his long-awaited return in Game 2. The Colorado captain hasn’t played an NHL game since Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final, as multiple knee surgeries have sidelined Landeskog for almost three full years.
Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen is practicing with the team in non-contact fashion and may get back into the lineup as soon as he participates in at least one full-contact session. Heiskanen missed Game 1 and the final 32 games of the Stars’ regular season with a knee injury.
–Field Level Media
