The winner will advance to the conference final to face either the Vancouver Canucks or Vegas Golden Knights, who will play Game 7 of their second-round series in Edmonton, the West hub city, on Friday (9 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, SN, TVAS).
Colorado defeated Dallas 4-1 in Game 6 on Wednesday to tie the series after avoiding elimination with a 6-3 victory in Game 5 on Monday.
Teams that win Games 5 and 6 after trailing a series 3-1 are 29-28 (50.8 percent) winning a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Playoff series.
RELATED: [Complete Avalanche vs. Stars series coverage]
"In terms of Game 7, it's my third one," Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon said. "I guess I haven't won one yet. Looking to change that in a couple days here. Excited for the challenge. It's going to be the toughest game for us to win."
Andre Burakovsky has played in five Game 7s, the most on Colorado, and scored three goals. He was 2-3 with the Washington Capitals. Nazem Kadri, who was 0-2 in Game 7 with the Toronto Maple Leafs, has scored two points (one goal, one assist).
The Avalanche are 6-8 in Game 7 in their history, including 4-7 since relocating to Colorado from Quebec prior to the 1995-96 season. They were defeated by the San Jose Sharks 3-2 in Game 7 of the 2019 second round, in Jared Bednar's first Game 7 as an NHL coach.
Goalie Michael Hutchinson, who started Games 5 and 6 for Colorado, has never played in a Game 7. Philipp Grubauer (unfit to play) was the losing goalie against San Jose last season.
The Avalanche have lost their past four Game 7s, last winning against the Sharks in the Western Conference Semifinals in 2002.
Joe Pavelski and Corey Perry each has played in seven Game 7s and scored five points (three goals, two assists), each the most on the Stars. Pavelski was 5-2 with the Sharks, and Perry was 2-5 with the Anaheim Ducks.
Goalie Anton Khudobin, who has started nine of the past 10 games for Dallas, has never played in a Game 7. Ben Bishop, who was unfit to play in Game 6 after starting Game 5, is 2-1 with a 0.58 goals-against average and .981 save percentage; each win came with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2015.
It will be the first Game 7 as coach for Dallas' Rick Bowness since a 3-2 win with the Boston Bruins against the Buffalo Sabres in the 1992 Adams Division Semifinals.
The Stars are 5-8 in Game 7 in their history, including 2-4 since relocating to Dallas from Minnesota prior to the 1993-94 season. They were defeated by the St. Louis Blues 2-1 in double overtime in Game 7 of the 2019 second round, when Bishop made 52 saves.
"I mean, we all know what happened last year," Stars forward Tyler Seguin said. "We were in this position, a chance to win it in Game 6, on home ice. Technically, you could say tonight was home ice. Game 7, we lost last year. So we have a chance to redeem ourselves. I definitely do think, as an organization, we've been trending in the right way, and this is the next step. It's going to be a big one for us in a couple of days."
Dallas has lost its past three Game 7s, last winning against Colorado in the 2000 conference final.
The Philadelphia Flyers and New York Islanders will play Game 7 in the Eastern Conference Second Round at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, the East hub city, on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET; NBC, CBC, TVAS). The Flyers won 5-4 in double overtime in Game 6 on Thursday to even the series.
