Avs Close Out Homestand Against Dallas

The Colorado Avalanche closes out a season-long five-game homestand on Saturday, hosting the Dallas Stars for the second and final time this season on Star Wars Night at Pepsi Center. It is the third of five total meetings between the Central Division rivals, with the remaining two set to be played at American Airlines Center in Dallas.
The Avalanche is 40-28-16 all-time against the Stars and 22-10-10 at home. Since the 2013-14 season, Colorado is 12-3-1 overall and 7-0-1 at home against Dallas.

Last Time Out

The Avalanche rallied from a two-goal deficit, but ultimately fell to the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-2 on Thursday night. Colorado got goals from Blake Comeau and Samuel Henley to tie the game at two in the second period, but a late Blue Jackets goal in the third sealed the loss for the Avs, who dropped to 0-3-1 in the current homestand. Semyon Varlamov made 34 saves, and the Avalanche finished 1-for-3 on the power play while holding the league's best PP unit scoreless on four opportunities with the man advantage.
The Stars are coming off a 6-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night. Devin Shore and Tyler Seguin scored for Dallas, which is winless in its last three contests. Antti Niemi made 34 saves, and the Stars were 1-for-3 on the power play.

Last Time They Met

Dallas beat the Avalanche 3-2 in Texas on Nov. 17. The Stars took a commanding 3-0 lead in the first period, but the Avs started chipping away in the second and third frames, scoring a goal in each. Despite outshooting the team 30-16 over the last two periods, Colorado was unable to score the equalizer and fell 3-2. The Avalanche beat the Stars 6-5 on Opening Night at Pepsi Center.

What to Watch For

Home vs. Road
The Avalanche looks to close out this homestand with a win before hitting the road for four games. Colorado is 4-7-1 at Pepsi Center this season. While the Stars are 3-7-4 on the road, their 34 goals scored on enemy ice is tied for fourth in the league.
Colorado Offense
The Avs have scored a combined eight goals in their two games against Dallas this season, Colorado's most against a single opponent in 2016-17.
Nathan MacKinnon's four points (two goals, two assists) lead the Avalanche in scoring against the Stars this year, while Joe Colborne's three points (three goals)--which all came in the season opener on Oct. 15--ranks second among Avs skaters.

Faceoffs

The Avalanche ranks second in the league in overall faceoff win percentage (53.4 percent) and first in offensive zone win percentage (57.0 percent).
On Thursday night against Columbus, Colorado finished with a season-high 74 percent rate of success on faceoffs, including a 79 percent performance in the second period, a season high for the statistic in a period.

Player to Watch

Colorado: Goalie Semyon Varlamov
Varlamov, who is expected to get the nod in goal on Saturday, has gone 12-4-2 in his career against Dallas and is 11-1-0 since the 2013-14 season.
Dallas: Center Devin Shore
Of Shore's nine points this season, four have come in the two games against the Avalanche.

The Details

Dallas and Colorado square off at 7 p.m. MT on Saturday, and
tickets are still available
.
The game also features the Avalanche's annual Toys for Tots Drive. Both children's toys as well as monetary donations will be collected at the entrances to Pepsi Center with all donations benefitting the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation. Collection will begin when doors open at 5:30 p.m.
Altitude TV will broadcast the game, and fans can listen to the action on 92.5 FM The Wolf or on
ColoradoAvalanche.com
.