DALLAS — Colorado’s stars 1, Dallas Stars 0.
“Defense travels” is a popular axiom in sports. Well, world-class talent travels in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as well, and the Colorado Avalanche has the best five-man unit in the NHL.
Cale Makar had a goal and two assists Wednesday night as the Avalanche roared back from a three-goal deficit to take Game 1 against the Dallas Stars in this second-round series at American Airlines Center. Nathan MacKinnon and Valeri Nichushkin had a goal and assist each in the 4-3 overtime victory. Mikko Rantanen had a pair of assists.
“I think at the end of the night, when you look at the score sheet, their big guys all kind of delivered and are all over the score sheet,” Stars coach Peter DeBoer said. “I thought a couple of our guys were, but some of our scoring has to step up.”
Earlier in the day, DeBoer noted the best way to keep Colorado’s top players from dictating terms was to make them spend a lot of time in the defensive zone. Whatever tactics the Stars tried to make that happen in Game 1 did not work.
It’s a similar refrain to the opening-round series against the Winnipeg Jets. Winnipeg was the stingiest team in the Western Conference this season, tied for the fewest goals allowed with the Florida Panthers.
Colorado’s stars dominated the deep, defensively stout Jets.
Dallas is, in some ways, a better version of Winnipeg. The Stars were nearly as adept at the defensive end with more offensive firepower to try and match up with the Avs. They held the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights to 16 goals in seven games, including 12 in the final six.
In Game 1 of this series, Colorado’s stars dominated the deep, defensively stout Stars.
“Everything we expected,” MacKinnon said. “A low-event game. A tight game. It was definitely tough taking a week off. It took us a bit. But once we found our legs, I thought we had a great second (and a) great third.”
After the Avalanche fell behind 3-0, the club needed a spark. Nichushkin drew a penalty and subsequently scored a power-play goal 13 seconds later.
Makar drew a penalty and rifled one into the net 91 seconds later. In less than four minutes, the Avs were right back in the game. And the power play is now 8 for 18 in six playoff contests.
“It’s been huge,” MacKinnon said. “It’s our job to produce on the power play. It’s so tight out there. Guys are playing so hard defensively. The power play is huge. I’m sure they’ll make some adjustments. But we’ve got to keep finding ways to produce.”
The Avs’ big guns didn’t just tip this tilt on special teams. Colorado’s top line, plus Makar and Devon Toews, dominated at even strength.
Colorado created 82.99% of the expected goals at 5-on-5 when Makar was on the ice. His xGF% was the “worst” of the big five. All three of the top-line forwards were at 88% or better.
When MacKinnon was on the ice at the same time at 5-on-5 as Dallas all-world defenseman Miro Heiskanen, the Avalanche had 14 of the 18 shot attempts and 98.71% of the expected goals. When Chris Tanev, the Stars’ marquee trade-deadline acquisition was out there against MacKinnon, the Stars fared better.
Colorado’s expected goal percentage when MacKinnon was on the ice with Tanev was 57.23%, but the Avs’ second line also had a great night of possessing the puck and controlling the scoring chances.
One of the most intriguing storylines with the Stars is DeBoer’s use of his defensemen. The Dallas coach is basically only playing five defensemen right now. Nils Lundkvist averaged 14:06 per game in the regular season, but he’s played 18:16 in the past six games combined, including just 4:07 in an overtime game Tuesday night.
The Stars are at a rest disadvantage coming into this series, having needed two more games to survive the first round. And now those five defensemen are being tasked with holding up against the best offensive team in the league, both in the regular season and now in the playoffs.
“We’ll see,” DeBoer said when asked if playing five most of the time needs to change. “We’re playing to win games. We play the guys and the minutes are reflective of the guys we feel can win games. That’s what they are, and that’s forwards and defensemen.”
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