Avalanche at Stars, Western Conference 1st Round Game 5 preview

DALLAS -- The Dallas Stars want more from their top players in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round against the Colorado Avalanche at American Airlines Center on Monday (9:30 p.m. ET; Victory+, ESPN, ALT, SN360, SN, TVAS).

The best-of-7 series is tied 2-2, but Colorado has outscored Dallas 13-7. The Stars are tied with the New Jersey Devils and the Tampa Bay Lightning for the fewest goals in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog returned from a knee injury in Game 3 and scored in Game 4, but Miro Heiskanen, the Stars' No. 1 defenseman, and Jason Robertson, who led Dallas with 35 goals in the regular season, remain out with lower-body injuries.

Forward Tyler Seguin has two goals for Dallas. Defenseman Thomas Harley and forwards Jamie Benn, Evgenii Dadonov and Roope Hintz each has one. Forwards Matt Duchene, Mikael Granlund, Wyatt Johnston, Mikko Rantanen and Mason Marchment have none.

“I don’t think any of our big guys have delivered yet in this series,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said when asked about Rantanen, the former Avalanche star. “He’s not the only one [on] that list. But the beauty of this is, it’s time now. I mean, this is money time, so I actually like the fact that we haven’t yet, because I think these guys are all due.”

Teams with a 3-2 lead in a best-of-7 series in the playoffs have won the series 79.2 percent of the time (357-94).

Here is a breakdown of Game 5:

Avalanche: Center Nathan MacKinnon leads the playoffs with three power-play goals and is tied for the lead with four goals. This is the fourth time in his NHL career he has had at least four goals in a playoff series. Goalie Mackenzie Blackwood is coming off his first NHL playoff shutout and is 2-2 with a 1.60 goals-against average and .939 save percentage.

Stars: The Stars were dominated in a 4-0 loss in Game 4. But in a 2-1 overtime win in Game 3 and a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 2, they were able to slow down the speedy Avalanche by checking hard in the defensive zone and putting pucks deep in the offensive zone. They need to make Colorado go back for the puck instead of allowing it to come at them constantly.

Number to know: 14. That’s the number of wins following a loss the Stars have had in the playoffs since 2022. Only the Edmonton Oilers (15) have more in that span.

What to look for: Can Landeskog continue his fairy tale comeback? Can the Stars score first for the first time in the series and play with a lead, after playing with one for only 62 seconds in the series so far?

What they are saying

“I think it’s just everyone helping out. I think the forwards are doing a great job, not only in the [defensive] zone, but the way they’re tracking and breaking up their rushes, because they’re such a dynamic team off the rush. That’s what they’re looking for. When you’ve got forwards busting their butt back and breaking up plays, that makes it a lot easier for defensemen.” -- Avalanche defenseman Ryan Lindgren on limiting the Stars offense

“It’s what it’s all about, a Game 5, a chance to take the lead at home. We should all be excited. I think we know when we play the way we want to play, then we can obviously beat them, and if we don’t play that way, then they can obviously make it look pretty bad. I think it’s just trying to get back to that game that gave us success in those two wins if we can, and if we do it that way, I think we’ll like the result.” -- Stars goalie Jake Oettinger

Avalanche projected lineup

Artturi Lehkonen -- Nathan MacKinnon -- Martin Necas

Gabriel Landeskog -- Brock Nelson -- Valeri Nichushkin

Jonathan Drouin -- Charlie Coyle -- Joel Kiviranta

Parker Kelly -- Jack Drury -- Logan O’Connor

Devon Toews -- Cale Makar

Samuel Girard -- Josh Manson

Ryan Lindgren -- Sam Malinski

Mackenzie Blackwood

Scott Wedgewood

Scratched: Erik Johnson, Keaton Middleton, Jimmy Vesey, Miles Wood

Injured: Ross Colton (lower body)

Stars projected lineup

Mikael Granlund -- Roope Hintz -- Mikko Rantanen

Mason Marchment -- Matt Duchene -- Tyler Seguin

Jamie Benn -- Wyatt Johnston -- Evgenii Dadonov

Oskar Back -- Sam Steel -- Colin Blackwell

Thomas Harley -- Ilya Lyubushkin

Esa Lindell -- Cody Ceci

Lian Bichsel -- Alexander Petrovic

Jake Oettinger

Casey DeSmith

Scratched: Mavrik Bourque, Mathew Dumba, Brendan Smith

Injured: Miro Heiskanen (knee), Nils Lundkvist (shoulder), Jason Robertson (lower body)

Status report

The Avalanche are expected to use the same lineup from their 4-0 win in Game 4 on Saturday. … Back will return after not playing in Game 4 because of an undisclosed injury. … Heiskanen, a defenseman, will not play. He remains day to day.