Avs and Stars Open Round 2 on Saturday to Rekindle Playoff Rivalry

For the fifth time in franchise history, the Colorado Avalanche will meet the Dallas Stars in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Round 2 series starts on Saturday.

Both teams are coming off convincing performances in the first round. The Avs won their last two games by scores of 7-1, defeating the Arizona Coyotes in five games. Nathan MacKinnon surged to the top of the NHL with 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in the best-of-seven set to give him 13 total in the playoffs. Nazem Kadri is tied for third in the league since the first round started with seven points (five goals, two assists) while Mikko Rantanen (three goals, three assists), Cale Makar (one goal, five assists) and Gabriel Landeskog (six assists) all have six points.

Philipp Grubauer won all four games he started, posting a league-best .953 save percentage through the first round.

Dallas scored seven unanswered goals in its last contest on Thursday to comeback and close its series against the Calgary Flames in six games. Denis Gurianov pitched in with four tallies, the most in a single game for anyone in the 2020 playoffs.

Avalanche vs. Dallas Stars | Game 1

Rogers Place | Edmonton, Alberta

| Game Time: | 6:00 p.m. MT | | --- | --- | | TV: | NBC, Sportsnet, CBC, TVA Sports | | Radio: | Altitude Sports Radio, FM 92.5 (KKSE) | | Live Streams: | NHL.tv, Official app, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports app (blackouts apply) | | Online Audio: | Listen Live Here | | Follow: | Virtual GameDay, Digital Arena, Playoff Central, @Avalanche, Official app, Gamecenter |

COLORADO-DALLAS CONNECTIONS

Valeri Nichushkin was selected in the first round (No. 10 overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft by the Dallas Stars and played four seasons with the franchise… Colorado defenseman Kevin Connauton spent parts of two seasons with the Stars (2013-15)… Dallas forward Blake Comeau played for Colorado from 2015-2018… Stars goaltender Ben Bishop was born in Denver.

HISTORY

The Avs beat the Stars 4-0 on Aug. 5 during round-robin play, as Pavel Francouz became the first goalie in franchise history to post a shutout in his first playoff start. Andre Burakovsky (one goal, one assist), Joonas Donskoi (one goal, one assist) and Samuel Girard (two assists) each turned in two-point efforts on a night in which nine Avs made the scoresheet.

Colorado went 0-2-2 against the Stars in the regular season, dropping the first two in November in regulation before losing the next two in extra time, both by a score of 3-2. Nathan MacKinnon led the team with three points (one goal, two assists) against Dallas. J.T. Compher scored two goals against the Stars during the season while Matt Nieto and Cale Makar each recorded two assists.

The Avalanche holds a 69-53-23 all-time mark against the Stars franchise in the regular season, with a 46-35-19 record since moving to Denver in 1995. MacKinnon has 30 points (10 goals and 20 assists) in 31 career games against Dallas, the most he's tallied against one opponent.

The Avs and Stars have met four times in the playoffs, with each team winning twice. Colorado won the last two series in five games, both in the first round in 2004 and 2006. The Dallas victories occurred in back-to-back Western Conference Finals in 1999 and 2000, with the Stars defeating the Avs in seven games each time.

ROSTER REPORT

Head coach Jared Bednar said Valeri Nichushkin was the only player who didn't practice Friday as he was given a maintenance day and is expected to play on Saturday. Vladislav Namestnikov, who missed the last three games against Arizona, could return to action for Game 1. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer is expected to start the series in net.

SCOUTING THE STARS

The Stars, who finished the season at 37-24-8, beat the Calgary Flames in six games in the first round, scoring at least five goals in three of their four wins. During Round 1, Dallas tallied 21 times, second in the NHL to the Avs (22). The Stars surrendered 17 goals against in Round 1, though, tied for the third-most in the league.

Overall in the postseason, Dallas is averaging 2.78 goals per game while allowing an average 3.0 the other way. The Stars power play is converting on 20 percent of its chances--but 23.8 percent in the first-round--and stopping 76.7 percent on the penalty kill, the second-lowest among remaining teams.

Miro Heiskanen is tied for second in the NHL in playoff points with 12 (three goals, nine assists), only behind Nathan MacKinnon (13). Joe Pavelski has eight points (six goals, two assists) and Denis Gurianov has seven (six goals, one assist), as both are tied for the most playoff goals so far (along with three other players, including Nazem Kadri).

Anton Khudobin, who went 16-8-4 in the regular season with a .930 save percentage, started five of the six games in net as Ben Bishop continues to deal with an injury. Bishop has been unfit to play since Game 3 of Dallas' first-round series. Khudobin is 4-3-0 overall this postseason with a .919 save percentage, ninth-best in the NHL.

(AVS) PLAYER TO WATCH: Nazem Kadri

Nazem Kadri has scored two goals in back-to-back games, both in 7-1 wins, and is tied for the most goals in the playoffs with six. Kadri, who scored a buzzer-beater goal in Colorado's first round-robin game against the St. Louis Blues, recorded seven points (five goals, two assists) in the first round.

Kadri has 11 points (six goals, five assists) overall in the 2020 playoffs, tied for fourth in the NHL.

(OPPOSING) PLAYER TO WATCH: Miro Heiskanen

Miro Heiskanen is coming off a four-point night (one goal, three assists) in Game 6, scoring the Stars' first goal to spark a seven-goal surge. He also grabbed an assist on Dallas' second market that cut its deficit to 3-2 at the time.

Heiskanen has 12 points (three goals, nine assists) through nine games this postseason, with three multi-point efforts. He has four points (one goal, three assists) on the power play.

NUMBERS GAME

13

Colorado has surrendered 13 goals this postseason, the fewest of all remaining teams.

30.6

With three more power-play goals in Game 5 against Arizona, the Avs have converted on 30.6 percent of opportunities in the playoffs, the highest in the NHL.

31

The Avalanche has scored 31 goals this postseason, the most among remaining teams.

88

Surrendering just one power-play goal on 15 chances against the Coyotes, Colorado's penalty-kill has now stopped 88.0 percent on the man-disadvantage in the playoffs, the best of the remaining teams.

NOTEBOOK

This will be the fifth time the Avalanche meets the Stars in the playoffs since the franchise moved to Denver, tying Dallas with the San Jose Sharks as the Avs' second-most common playoff opponent since 1996 (Detroit Red Wings: six meetings)... Colorado has advanced to the second round in consecutive playoffs for the first time since 2004-06… Since the start of Round 1, Philipp Grubauer's .953 save percentage is the highest in the NHL… Nathan MacKinnon, who leads the league in points this postseason with 13 (four goals, nine assists), has recorded at least a point in every playoff game, tying the second-longest streak in franchise history to begin a playoff year… Andre Burakovsky now has eight points (three goals, five assists) in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, a new career high.