DENVER -- The Colorado Avalanche are heading to Dallas with a plan to regain the lead in their Western Conference First Round series against the Stars in Game 5 on Monday (9:30 p.m. ET; Victory+, ESPN, ALT, SN360, SN, TVAS).
It starts with modeling their play from Saturday’s 4-0 win against Dallas in Game 4, which tied the best-of-7 series 2-2.
“I think if we play like that, we can win against anybody,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said on Sunday. “We're trying to repeat what we did the other night in a lot of different areas, and [we’ll] try to go get a win on the road.
“I think all the games were close. Obviously, last night we had a really good night, but the other games were super tight. Sometimes it's a little tougher to finish on some of your chances. You just got to keep looking for the volume and repeatable things that you can do to try to put the puck in the net. So we focused on that as the series has gone on. They're all going to be close, right? So you just got to go and put your best foot forward again.”
The Avalanche got contributions in Game 4 from throughout the lineup, including a goal and an assist from captain Gabriel Landeskog, who was skating in his second game after missing nearly three years with a knee injury, and goalie Mackenzie Blackwood’s first career Stanley Cup Playoffs shutout.
“He's just been rock solid. You see, there's no mental kind of ups and downs with him for us,” defenseman Josh Manson said of Blackwood. “You watch him, and the puck is just hitting him. Like he's just moving around, nothing's out of control. Everything just kind of seems loosey-goosey calm. All of a sudden, there's a big save when we needed it. The saves that he needs to make, he's making.”
Now the series has become a best-of-3, but that doesn’t mean the Avalanche are approaching it as a fresh start.
“I'd rather not, I think, because we've learned a lot about ourselves over the first four games and a lot about Dallas as well,” said Bednar. “So I think you got to keep growing your game from your predictions and what you were looking at from the start of the series to things you liked and didn't like as the series goes on. You got to keep growing to get better. If you're starting fresh, you're probably going to be behind the eight ball.”
Brock Nelson, who had two assists in Game 4, echoed that sentiment as an approach for Monday’s matchup.
“Game 5 is the biggest. So kind of the same mindset we had in Game 4 and knowing that we wanted to win that one, and that was a big one for us,” he said. “Keep pushing for more and make a few changes here and there, but same mentality.”
Colorado knows it won’t be easy. It’s hard to play against, and win against, the Stars.
“They go to the net hard. They're a bunch of players that know how to protect the puck well and create plays with the little time that they're given,” said Manson. “So you got to be on your toes at all times, because they get one little bit of separation on you and next thing you know it's coming to the net and they're crashing hard.”
