Game 2 Preview: Home Ice Advantage

Colorado already stole home ice advantage in Dallas – can the Avs take another one?

The Colorado Avalanche stormed into Dallas and turned a close Game 1 into a 5-1 blowout with a dominant third period. Artturi Lehkonen kicked off the scoring in the second period with a whacky goal off his foot while falling, and the Avs never looked back. Nathan MacKinnon added a power-play tally and an empty-netter, but the true star of the show was goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood, who rose to the playoff occasion in a way doubters weren’t sure he could. Can he bring that same level of play to Game 2? We’re about to find out!

Colorado Avalanche

The Avs sure looked every part of the Stanley Cup contender that fans and media have hyped them up to be in Game 1, dominating the underlying metrics and the scoreboard against a very good but undermanned Dallas Stars team.

The only real knock on the Avs in Game 1 would be the one thing that’s plagued them from the start of the season – injuries. Ross Colton left the game after a 15-second shift in the third period and did not return due to a lower-body injury. No update has been given on his status, but it seems likely he’ll sit out at least one game to nurse his LBI.

Josh Manson returned from injury and gave the whole Josh Manson experience – rock solid defense, some big hits, a dumb penalty, and a beautiful assist on Devon Toews’ third goal that put the Avalanche firmly in the driver’s seat to close out the win. An impressive return!

Also impressive – the fourth line of Parker Kelly, Jack Drury, and Logan O’Connor absolutely ate the Stars all night. They gave up zero shots on goal, zero scoring chances, and zero expected goals. ZERO! That’s dominance. Sure, they didn’t score, but they easily could have on their three high-danger chances. It’s safe to assume that after a game that good, they’ll be sticking together despite the injury to Colton.

Projected Lineup

Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas
Jonathan Drouin – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin
Joel Kiviranta – Charlie Coyle – Miles Wood
Parker Kelly – Jack Drury – Logan O’Connor

Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Ryan Lindgren – Josh Manson
Samuel Girard – Erik Johnson

Dallas Stars

It was another tough night for the D boys, as the Stars got outplayed in every area of the ice. Missing their best defenseman and their best forward clearly hurt, and Miro Heiskanen and Jason Robertson will remain out at least one more night. Heiskanen has resumed practicing in a limited capacity, while Robertson has not made an appearance at the rink since his injury.

They’ll need more from Mikko Rantanen to replace Robertson’s missing offense, after he was limited to just three shots and no points in Game 1. His line with Jamie Benn and Wyatt Johnston got rocked in the underlying metrics, with barely any offensive zone possession time or scoring chances generated.

The Stars’ best line was boosted by the return of Tyler Seguin, as his trio with Mason Marchment and Matt Duchene was able to just barely break even in the fancy stats. Perhaps more importantly, Marchment was a thorn in the Avs’ side all night with big hits, post-whistle antics, and a nice dive to draw the penalty that led to their lone goal on the powerplay.

Dallas’ defense without Heiskanen was predictably porous, though Thomas Harley was able to notch an assist on that Roope Hintz PP goal. Alex Petrovic and Lian Bichsel made surprise appearances on the third pair over veterans Matt Dumba and Brendan Smith, presumably because of their size and reach, but they were not effective. Dumba may take Petrovic’s spot in Game 2, though lineups won’t be announced til game time.

Projected Lineup

Mikael Granlund – Roope Hintz – Evgenii Dadonov
Mason Marchment – Matt Duchene – Tyler Seguin
Jamie Benn – Wyatt Johnston – Mikko Rantanen
Oskar Back – Sam Steel – Colin Blackwell

Thomas Harley – Ilya Lyubushkin
Esa Lindell – Cody Ceci
Lian Bichsel – Alex Petrovic

Goaltenders

Blackwood absolutely dominated his matchup with Jake Oettinger in Game 1, and they’ll be the goalies tonight as well. Expect a little better from Otter, who has been a solid bounce-back performer after losses, and maybe a little less from Blackwood just because it’s not fair to expect anyone to sustain that level of play.