Avs Continue Homestand Against Stars

The Colorado Avalanche hosts the Dallas Stars on Sunday for the third and final time this campaign. This is the fourth of five overall meetings between the clubs in the 2017-18 season. Colorado is 2-1-0 against Dallas in three outings this campaign, defeating the Stars twice at home and falling once in Dallas.
The Avs are 42-31-8-9 against the Stars overall since 1995-96, including a 24-11-5-5 record at home.
This campaign, Colorado is 12-10-2 with a 8-3-1 record on home ice and Dallas is 15-10-1 with a 5-8-1 record on the road. The Stars are on the latter end of a back-to-back after hosting the Chicago Blackhawks on Saturday night.

Last Time Out

Colorado Avalanche
On Friday, the Avalanche fell 2-1 to the New Jersey Devils at home. After a scoreless first, each team found the back of the net in the middle frame. J.T. Compher netted a power-play goal for Colorado to tie the match 1-1 in the second period. The Devils tallied the game winning goal with the man-advantage in the final stanza.
Dallas Stars
The Stars defeated the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 in a shootout on Saturday night. Alexander Radulov scored the first goal of the contest with an early power-play marker, however the game was knotted at the first intermission. Radek Faksa tallied in the second to give Stars back the lead, but game was tied again before last 20 minutes. The match was sent into a shootout after a scoreless third and overtime. Radulov and Tyler Seguin found the back of the net in the skills competition for the win over Chicago.

Last Time They Met

The Avs and Stars took the ice on Nov. 22 when Colorado prevailed with a 3-0 win at home. After a scoreless first, Erik Johnson put the Avs on the scoreboard early in the second frame. Nail Yakupov found the back of the net in the final seconds of the middle stanza to extend the Colorado lead and Gabriel Landeskog scored the final goal of the contest in the third period. Nathan MacKinnon registered assists on all three tallies and Jonathan Bernier turned away all 28 pucks in his first shutout of the season.

What to Watch

Shots on Goal
Colorado's contest on Friday didn't yield high offensive stats for either team as the Avs and Devils combined for only 44 shots on goal. Colorado went 1-for-5 on the power play, only registering three shots on goal during the man advantage.
"If you look at some of our O-zone shifts where we make some plays, get the puck inside the dots, we're not shooting it," Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said. "We're always looking at the next play. You're not going to get backdoor tap-ins very often, especially when you're playing teams that can check and skate, which is all of them."

Player to Watch

Colorado: Left Wing J.T. Compher
The rookie forward has recorded eight points (four goals, four assists) in 18 games with Colorado this season and has found the scoresheet in three of his past four games. Though he started on an all-rookie line with Tyson Jost and Alexander Kerfoot last game, Bednar moved him to the top line with MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen later in the contest.
Dallas: Center Tyler Seguin
Tyler Seguin has registered 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists) in 26 contests this campaign. The center scored in a shootout against Chicago on Saturday night to help the Stars win. Seguin has one goal and three assists against Colorado this season, however he was held off the scoresheet in the team's last meeting. The forward leads the Stars in both points and goals.

Lineup Notes

Jonathan Bernier is expected to start between the pipes for the Avalanche and Kari Lehtonen is likely to start in goal for the Stars.

The Details

Puck drop is set for 6 p.m. MT at Pepsi Center. The game will be televised on Altitude and the radio broadcast can be heard on Altitude Sports Radio AM 950 or online at ColoradoAvalanche.com.