DALLAS -- There’s no rest for the Dallas Stars, who will take on the Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 of the Western Conference Second Round at American Airlines Center on Tuesday, two days after they eliminated the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Stars are riding high following their 2-1 win against the Golden Knights, the Stanley Cup champion last season, in Game 7 of the first round here on Sunday.
“Obviously a huge, huge game last game, Dallas defenseman Chris Tanev said. "We felt like it was probably our best game of the series. Big plays at big moments, Jake (Oettinger, Stars goaltender) was incredible, so we need to keep building on that and keep getting better against an obviously very skilled team, very high-octane team with some of the best players in the world.
“It’s plain and simple -- they’ve got some really, really good players and we need to keep progressing our game as we did last series.”
The Avalanche are here after eliminating the Winnipeg Jets in five games in their first-round series. They know the Stars well and figure the home team will be pushing from the start.
“I don’t think we should expect anything but their best, their hardest game,” Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon said. “We’re prepared to work our butts off and compete and we expect a very, very, very hard series but we’re confident in ourselves. We feel we have a deep team, and we get the job done.”
Here are 3 keys for Game 1:
1. Rest, not rust
When the puck drops in this game, it will be a week since the Avalanche last played. Many players on this roster were around in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, when Colorado won the Cup and had several long breaks in between rounds, anywhere from seven to 10 days between series. So, they’re not worried about being ready.
“It’s more mental,” forward Mikko Rantanen said. “I think, obviously, it’s good physically. We get some rest, bumps and bruises you have, you can kind of get away from those. But mentally you have to be prepared, because they obviously played two days ago. Mentally we have to be prepared right away to be physical and make smart decisions with the puck.”
2. No worries about Joe
Joe Pavelski had no points in seven first-round games after the Stars forward finished with 67 points (27 goals, 40 assists) in 82 regular-season games, second on the team behind forward Jason Robertson (80 points; 29 goals, 51 assists). Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said he expects Pavelski to make an impact before the postseason is over, no matter the point total.
“I heard (Vegas coach) Bruce Cassidy speak about (forward) Jonathan Marchessault last year and he went the first (seven) games of the playoffs without a goal and then won the Conn Smythe,” DeBoer said of the trophy awarded to the most valuable player during the postseason.
“I’m not saying Joe’s going to do that, but I have zero concern that Joe’s fingerprints are going to be on our playoffs before this is said and done, regardless of what the stat lines say. They already are, in all the other things he does, both in the dressing room and all the little intangibles on the ice.”
3. High scoring or low scoring?
The Avalanche are coming off a productive first round in which they outscored the Jets 28-15. The Stars are coming off quite a different series, a tight, defensive affair in which they and the Golden Knights went the distance, each with 16 goals.
So, how does Game 1 end up going?
“Play the game as it is,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “There’s no one going into it going, ‘Well, let’s run and gun this thing.’ You have to be able to defend them.
“They’re near the top in the League, especially since the Trade Deadline, in expected goals for and expected goals against. They’re top-five. I expect them to push to score and push to keep it out of their net. We’re going to do the exact same thing.”
Avalanche projected lineup
Valeri Nichushkin -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Mikko Rantanen
Artturi Lehkonen -- Casey Mittelstadt -- Zach Parise
Miles Wood -- Ross Colton -- Chris Wagner
Brandon Duhaime -- Yakov Trenin -- Andrew Cogliano
Devon Toews -- Cale Makar
Samuel Girard -- Josh Manson
Jack Johnson -- Sean Walker
Alexandar Georgiev
Justus Annunen
Scratched: Jean-Luc Foudy, Arvid Holm, Caleb Jones, Nikolai Kovalenko
Injured: Jonathan Drouin (lower body), Joel Kiviranta (lower body)
Stars projected lineup
Jason Robertson -- Roope Hintz -- Wyatt Johnston
Jamie Benn -- Matt Duchene -- Logan Stankoven
Evgenii Dadonov -- Tyler Seguin -- Joe Pavelski
Craig Smith -- Faksa Faksa -- Sam Steel
Thomas Harley -- Miro Heiskanen
Esa Lindell -- Chris Tanev
Ryan Suter -- Nils Lundkvist
Jake Oettinger
Scott Wedgewood
Scratched: Ty Dellandrea
Injured: Jani Hakanpaa (lower body), Mason Marchment (undisclosed)
Status report
Kiviranta, a forward, participated in the Avalanche morning skate Tuesday in a noncontact jersey. … Georgiev will start after taking a maintenance day and not practicing Monday. ... The Stars held an optional morning skate Tuesday and will dress the same lineup they used in Game 7 of the first round Sunday.
NHL.com independent correspondent Taylor Baird contributed to this report
