No matter who you’re cheering for, this is going to be a fun series to watch. While the Avalanche
dismantled the Winnipeg Jets in just five games in the opening round, they enter as a slight
underdog in this second-round series. Their run and gun style plays out like the Edmonton
Oilers of the eighties. They score a whole lot and to make up for their shortcomings in net. That
is until the last four games against the Jets where Alexandar Georgiev didn’t allow more than
three goals against, thus shaking off the “four-giev” moniker.
On the other side of the ice are the Dallas Stars. The team from Texas was in tough against the
Vegas Golden Knights, going the distance for the win thanks to goaltender Jake Oettinger. The
netminder allowed two or fewer goals over his last five postseason starts and boasts a 1.95
goals against average and a .925 save percentage.
Avalanche Warning
As previously mentioned, the Avalanche are an offense heavy team. They posted a staggering
average of 5.60 goals for, thanks to their 37.0 shots per game. On the power play they went
50% through their last three games. Their big three in Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and
Cale Makar each posted 2 goals and 7 assists through the five games series against the Jets.
Oh and don’t forget about Valeri Nichushkin who scored 7 goals in those five games.
Young Stars Shining Bright
The Stars are a solid playoff team in the sense that they already play a tight checking and grind
it out style that the postseason brings. They’re going to have plenty of more scoring
opportunities in this series compared to their first-round matchup against the Vegas Golden
Knights. Vegas bolstered their blue line at the deadline in an attempt, albeit failed, to shut down
a squad like the Stars. 20 year-old Wyatt Johnston has been a standout for Dallas with seven
points in as many games. In last year’s postseason run, he had just six points in 19 games, so
consider this his coming out party.
SERIES ODDS
Avalanche +110
Stars -130
SEASON SERIES
While the Avs won the season series 3-1, it was the Stars who got the last laugh, finishing at the
top Western Conference Standings.
Nov. 18, 2023 Avalanche 6 Stars 3
Jan. 4, 2024 Avalanche 5 Stars 4
Feb. 27, 2024 Stars 1 Avalanche 5
Apr. 7, 2024 Stars 7 Avalanche 4
SERIES SCHEDULE
Game 1: Avalanche vs. Stars, Tuesday, May 7
Game 2: Avalanche vs. Stars, Thursday, May 9
Game 3: Stars vs. Avalanche, Friday, May 10
Game 4: Stars vs. Avalanche, Sunday, May 12
Game 5: Avalanche vs. Stars, Tuesday, May 14 *
Game 6: Stars vs. Avalanche, Thursday, May 16 *
Game 7: Avalanche vs. Stars, Saturday, May 18 *