DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars defeated the 2023 Stanley Cup champions. Now they face the 2022 Stanley Cup champions.
After a 2-1 win against the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 7 of the Western Conference First Round at American Airlines Center on Sunday, the Stars now host the Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 of the second round Tuesday (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN360, SN, TVAS).
“I think it’s going to be a totally different style of hockey,” Stars goalie Jake Oettinger said.
The Dallas-Vegas series was tight and defensive, with each game decided by one goal, not including empty-netters. The Stars and Golden Knights each scored 16 goals in the seven games.
The Avalanche outscored the Winnipeg Jets 28-15 in five games in the first round, and the Jets were one of the best defensive teams in the NHL during the regular season.
The Jets tied the Florida Panthers for the fewest goals against in the regular season (198) and had Connor Hellebuyck, who was voted the NHL’s best goalie in 2019-20 and is a finalist for the Vezina Trophy for the fourth time this season.
Colorado led the NHL in goals (302) in the regular season, but Dallas was right behind, ranked third (294). Each regular-season game between the teams was high-scoring: Colorado won 6-3 on Nov. 18, 5-4 in overtime on Jan. 4 and 5-1 on Feb. 27. Dallas won 7-4 on April 7.
“Obviously, that last game of the year we played against them, we felt like we played a great game against them,” Oettinger said. “We should feel confident in what we just did. We showed that we can play that way or the more up-tempo game I’m guessing we’ll be getting from them. A couple of adjustments, and let’s roll.”
The Stars tied the Seattle Kraken for eighth in goals against (232) in the regular season, while the Avalanche tied with the Washington Capitals for 16th (252).
“We both need to put our focus, an emphasis, on the defensive zone and really trying to stifle some offense,” Colorado defenseman Josh Manson said. “I think statistically, our numbers and their numbers, we can both produce offensively, so it’s going to be who can defend better and try to keep the puck out of the net.”
Asked what style the Stars preferred in this series, Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said: “It’s a great question. I think the short answer to that is, we just want to win, whatever that takes. I think we’re going to have to work ourselves into the series to see how we’re going to have to win. My initial reaction is, watching what they did to Winnipeg, I don’t think we want to get into a track meet.”
DeBoer listed some of Colorado’s top players, including defenseman Cale Makar and forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen, each of whom has nine points (two goals, seven assists) in five games.
“At the same time, I think we’re not going to sit and try to defend the entire series,” DeBoer said. “I think we’ve got other layers to our game. We want to put some pressure on their group defensively too.”
Colorado coach Jared Bednar echoed that.
“Play the game as it is,” Bednar said. “I mean, there’s no one going into it going, ‘Well, let’s just run-and-gun this thing.’ You’ve got to be able to defend.”
Bednar said the Stars ranked among the best in the NHL in expected goals for and against since the 2024 NHL Trade Deadline on March 8.
“I expect them to push the score and push to keep it out of their net,” Bednar continued. “We’re going to do the exact same thing.”
The Avalanche will have had six days between games. The advantage is that they’ve had time to rest and prepare; Bednar said the coaches were done working on Dallas four days ago. The disadvantage is that they might be rusty, while the Stars might be in a rhythm.
“There’s always a hope that you get a little bit stale practicing,” DeBoer said. “I think we’ve been in that spot before, and I’m hoping we can carry over a Game 7 mentality and roll it right into Game 1. You never know as a coach how quick out of the gate they’re going to be with that time off and if we’re going to be able to roll that mentality into Game 1, but that’s the hope.”
The Stars also hope the Golden Knights didn’t wear them down too much before what should be another competitive series, no matter the style.
“I don’t think you go through a seven-game series against a team like that without it taking some toll on you,” DeBoer said. “When you pay the bill for that toll, you never know. Is that a round from now? Is it two rounds from now? Is it in the summertime? Let’s hope we can push that off, and let’s hope we can help ourselves with that as we move forward here. But the road sure doesn’t get any easier when you look at the potential opponents.”
NHL.com independent correspondents Taylor Baird and Ryan Boulding contributed
