Two consecutive victories have witnessed the Colorado Avalanche (No. 2 seed in the West) salvage their Second Round series against the Dallas Stars (No. 3 seed), going 3-3 in their head-to-head matchup following a 3-1 series deficit, with Game 7 finally deciding the team to advance to the conference finals.
Stars Lose Momentum
The Dallas Stars (8-7-0) failed to finish off their Western Conference semifinal matchup against the Colorado Avalanche on two consecutive occasions after going 3-3 in the series following a 3-1 lead after dropping Game 6 with a count of 4-1 at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Wednesday. The Stars outshot the Avs 28-24, outhit them 45-28, killed all five of their penalties and blocked 26 shots, but managed to find the back of the net just once, with sole scorer Miro Heiskanen (5 goals, 19 points this postseason) setting a new Dallas/Minnesota North Stars franchise playoff record for a point streak by a defenseman (7 games, 11 points; 3 goals, 8 assists).
Goalie Anton Khudobin stopped 20 shots on Wednesday, taking his current postseason total to 7-5 with a 2.88 GAA and a .909 save percentage. He has registered a 3-3 tally against Colorado during the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs with a 3.48 GAA and a .897 save percentage. The Stars, meanwhile, are scoring the 6th highest number of goals per game since the NHL Return to Play Plan (3.20), while allowing the 6th highest quantity in their defensive zone (3.47). The team is 5th best in power play with a 25.5% conversion rate and 10th in penalty kill with 82.8% efficiency.
Avs Get Back In The Game
The Colorado Avalanche (9-4-1) won two straight fixtures in a row to even their Second Round series against the Dallas Stars at 3-3 after following up Monday’s 6-3 victory with a 4-1 triumph at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Wednesday. Nikita Zadorov (3 goals, 4 points this postseason) tied the game at 1-1 with 32 seconds remaining in the opening frame before Cale Makar (4 goals, 15 points) broke the tie in the second period, with Mikko Rantanen (7 goals, 20 points) and Nathan MacKinnon (9 goals, 25 points) adding two more strikes in the final third. MacKinnon extended his point run to 14 games to begin a postseason, tying Bobby Orr (Boston Bruins, 1970) and Mark Messier (Edmonton Oilers, 1988) for the 2nd longest in NHL history.
Goalie Michael Hutchinson made 27 saves on Wednesday and has now gone 2-0 in his playoff career with a 1.86 GAA and a .938 save percentage. Prior to the current postseason, he had picked up a 4-2-0 past record against the Stars with a 3.03 GAA and a .900 save percentage. The Avalanche, meanwhile, are burying the absolute highest quantity of goals per game since the restart of hockey (4.00), while conceding the 10th lowest amount on the defensive end (2.57). The team is 9th in power play with a 21.9% success rate and 18th in penalty kill with 78.3% effectiveness.
Notable Trends
Colorado
- Avalanche are 4-1 in their last 5 in the fourth game of a 4-in-6 situation.
- Avalanche are 15-5 in their last 20 after allowing 2 goals or less in their previous game.
Dallas
- Stars are 1-6 in their last 7 Friday games.
