Colorado Avalanche versus Dallas Stars
The Colorado Avalanche were at the helm of the biggest surprise result of the first round. Not necessarily that they won the series, a team that good should never be looked at as an easy team to beat. Also because the series was predicted to be close to begin with. But it was the manner with which the Avalanche easily dispatched the Winnipeg Jets that should come as a surprise.
This team turned it up to a new level for the playoffs and barely gave room for the Jets to even put up a fight, aside from Winnipeg winning a barn burner game one. The Avalanche dominated from that point on and showed us why this team is a legit Stanley Cup Contender.
The playoffs did not start out all that well for the Dallas Stars as they lost the first two games of their series. But with Wyatt Johnston‘s breakout into NHL stardom leading the way, Dallas won four of the next five games to win the series.
Expectations are high for the team that was just one point off of the President’s Trophy in the regular season. Will they carry the momentum forward from their comeback series win in round one?
Colorado Avalanche
The core of the Colorado Avalanche won a Stanley Cup two seasons ago for a reason. They are some of the most dominant players of this generation. And they just keep getting better. Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen, and Cale Makar (all with two goals and nine points in five games versus the Jets) turned their games up to a new level for this playoff run. Those three, joined by Valeri Nichushkin (seven goals) give Colorado an absurdly dominant group that any team will struggle to contain and match.
Combine this with a smart coach in Jared Bednar who is not afraid to experiment with different line combinations, and quickly adjust within games when they are not working, and he has tinkered to a point of maximizing what he can get out of his team.
Scoring depth has often been a concern for the Avalanche over the past five years, but this season they seem to have addressed it well enough to support the rest of the lineup. Eight players had a point per game or higher in the series versus the Jets, including trade deadline acquisition Casey Mittelstadt, who has fit in splendidly on the team’s second line.
Dallas Stars
Dallas has built one of the best all-around teams in the league. They have an incredible mix of veteran and young talent. They’ve been built up through the draft by one of the best amateur scouting and drafting programs in the modern era. Their positional depth is getting better and better every single season. And they seem to have found a coach in Peter DeBoer who has unlocked a new dimension in this team that Dallas has not had in a long while with a potent offence.
Jake Oettinger struggled a bit through the regular season. He was not at his best. And that was a major concern for the Stars heading into the playoffs as they need a player of his calibre on top of his game. So far, he has stepped up. A 1.95 GAA and .925 SV% far surpass his regular season statline. The hope is that he will continue that trend for this series.
Last year, one thing that held the Stars back was a lack of defensive depth. But with the breakout season had by Thomas Harley, who is now playing alongside Miro Heiskanen instead of Ryan Suter, and addition of Chris Tanev, suddenly that defensive group looks a lot better. And dare I say it, more than enough to match up against the Avalanche.
Series overview
This is one of those matchups that could end up being the pseudo-Stanley Cup Final. The high flying Colorado Avalanche against one of the league’s deepest and well constructed teams in the Dallas Stars. Both teams have built rosters that play into each other fairly well. The Avalanche have the extreme star power whereas the Stars take the battle on depth and in net.
The biggest challenge for Dallas will be finding a way to insert their game into the dynamic between these two teams. The Avalanche showed how they can absolute dominate and control play in the series against Winnipeg. Luckily for the Stars, they know how to change the tide of a series as they showed in their round one matchup.
The trade deadline acquisition of Tanev may prove to be invaluable. A defender that plays the way he does, a shut down defensive defender playing some of the best hockey of his career, is going to be relied on heavily when going up against the elite offence of MacKinnon, Rantanen, Nichushkin, and Makar.
On the flip side, the Avalanche will need more from Alexandar Georgiev in net. Colorado got through round one on their offensive explosion. But their goalie had the third worst goals saved above expected of any goalie who played in the first round. The Stars’ offence is nothing to laugh at. For all the credit the Avalanche get for being an elite offensive team, Dallas is right behind them. Only six fewer goals scored during the regular season than Colorado, they finished third in the league.
The Avalanche might have the star power advantage, but the depth throughout Dallas’ lineup might prove to be the difference maker.
Series prediction
Dallas Stars in seven games.
Vancouver Canucks versus Edmonton Oilers
The Vancouver Canucks have kept their surprise season alive as they gutted out a six game series win against the Nashville Predators. It was an incredibly eventful series for the Canucks, after losing Thatcher Demko early to injury making way for Arturs Silovs to step in and control the crease with a .938 SV% and 1.7 GAA in his three games. Getting a goalie hot at the right time is incredibly important to playoff success, so Silovs’ play in round one is a promising sign for future success.
After an absolutely horrendous start to the season that put this year’s possibilities in question, the Edmonton Oilers turned things around in late November to skyrocket up the standings and even make their way into home ice advantage for the playoffs. They drew the Los Angeles Kings in round one for the third consecutive year, and for the the third consecutive year they beat the Los Angeles Kings in round one. The Oilers found a way to dominate the Kings’ 1-3-1 formation for the better part of the series, with the lone blemish being an overtime loss in the second game.
Vancouver Canucks
The clutch gene is alive and well for the Canucks, whose never say die attitude keeps them in the battle until the final buzzer. Brock Boeser, with a huge hat trick in game four to tie the game and lead the way to an eventual Canucks overtime victory, led the way with four goals and six points along with JT Miller. Two of his hat trick goals came within the last three minutes of that game. And in Game 6, the two teams took a 0-0 tie to the final minute and a half until Pius Suter scored to give them a 1-0 victory.
Although everything worked out ultimately, the Canucks only managed to score 13 goals in six games, the lowest of any team that won their first round series. They also only gave up 12. But for a team with the offensive potential that the Canucks have, those results are a tad disappointing and could be worrisome. It is unlikely that they will be able to sustain success on that little scoring. This is where they need their best players, specifically Elias Pettersson and Elias Lindholm, to generate more offence. Both had three points in six games in round one.
Edmonton Oilers
As shown by their league-wide dominance in the regular season, the Oilers can compete against anyone. They have the starpower to overwhelm any opponent and this season, they’re starting to show the defensive aptitude and have stable enough goaltending to reliably match up against any other team.
What might cause some concern for the Oilers is scoring depth and how goals are scored. Despite being, overall, the second highest scoring team in Round 1, the majority of Edmonton’s offence came from a handful of players and only 12 of their 22 goals came at even strength. Although it is still one of the higher even strength scoring rates in the league, there may be an overreliance on a select few players and the power play to produce offence. Connor McDavid had a point on 12 of the team’s 22 goals and a 45% power play is not likely sustainable. It is also leaving their offensive potential dependent on the opposing team committing infractions.
The Oilers will need to be able to find more ways to win and score not based entirely off of an unreal powerplay. It bodes well for them that they held the Kings to just 13 goals (with four of them distinctly being unlucky bounces) in round one. They showed the ability to win in high scoring and low scoring games.
Series overview
The season series between these two teams was a tad one-sided. The Canucks swept it easily, taking all four games by a combined score of 21-7. Not a great outlook for the potential of this series. But the season series may not quite be predictive of the results of a playoff series, as we’ve just seen in the matchup between the Avalanche and Jets.
For starters, the Canucks are going to have to re-find their offence. They are going to be hard pressed to beat the Oilers scoring just over two goals per game. The team that Edmonton just beat in Round 1 had the same amount of total goals than Vancouver, in one less game. And with the offensive firepower that the Oilers can put on the ice, there has to be a counter for it.
There is the potential for the Canucks’ defensive game and goaltending to stay hot, but that is not a safe bet to make against this Oilers team.
Edmonton, on the other hand, will need to try and awaken their depth scoring a bit to be able to ice more scoring threats. The Canucks’ lineup is built well and the depth can be spread out throughout the lineup in a way that enhances what they can do. The Oilers need to be able to counter this by doing more than just having the bottom half of the lineup’s entire goal to be to not get scored on. They need to be able to adjust if McDavid or the powerplay is quiet for a game.
Series prediction
Edmonton Oilers in six games.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
