2425 GDG 1.18 @ COL
Dallas Stars
Colorado Avalanche
Record
28-15-1 (12-9-0 Away)
27-18-1 (13-9-1 Home)
Rank
57 Points (3rd in Central)
55 Points (4th in Central)
Power Play
17.4% (24-for-138)
20.9% (29-for-139)
Penalty Kill
85.6% (101-for-118)
79.7% (94-for-118)
Last 10 Games
8-2-0
6-3-1

Five Points 5️⃣

  • The Dallas Stars face the Colorado Avalanche Saturday afternoon for the second time this season. Entering Saturday's match, the Stars are 28-15-1 while the Avalanche are 27-18-1. The teams face each other once more this season on March 16 in Colorado.
  • Dallas is 69-67-21 all-time vs. Colorado, including a 26-44-8 mark on the road.
  • The Stars have earned points in three of their last four games against the Avalanche (2-1-1). Dallas has also won four of their last seven games at Ball Arena (previously Pepsi Center).
  • Forward Wyatt Johnston has six points (2-4—6) in nine career games against the Avalanche. He enters Saturday’s contest riding a three-game point streak vs. Colorado, registering five points (1-4—5) during that span.
  • Forward Jason Robertson has 13 points (5-8—13) in 12 career games against Colorado. Robertson also has totaled six points (1-5—6) in five career games played at Ball Arena, earning at least one point in all but one of those contests.

Stats Against Opponent ✍

Active Streaks
Leading Scorers
Tyler Seguin (8-2—10, 6 GP)
Tyler Seguin (26-23—49, 42 GP)
Wyatt Johnston (1-4—5, 3 GP)
Jamie Benn (15-34—49, 59 GP)
Jamie Benn (2-3—5, 2 GP)
Matt Duchene (12-6—18, 17 GP)
Matt Duchene (1-2—3, 2 GP)
Matt Dumba (3-15—18, 41 GP)

Players To Watch 👀

Stars forward Mavrik Bourque scored four points (2-2—4) over the Stars' last five-game road trip (Jan. 7 to Jan. 14), which is his most points in a five game stretch this season. Of Bourque's 11 points this season (4-7—11), eight have come on the road (3-5—8) in 19 total road games.

Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon leads the NHL in points (72) and assists (55) entering play Friday. Of MacKinnon's 46 games played this season, 22 have been multi-point outings which is the second most multi-point games among NHL skaters this season behind only Leon Draisaitl (23). On home ice, MacKinnon has tallied 41 points (10-31—41) in 23 games at Ball Arena. In his career against Dallas, he has registered 43 points (17-26—43) in 42 games.

First Shift 🏒

The Stars have taken a run through the Eastern Conference in recent weeks and fared pretty well. Now, they will start a run of games that includes some of the best in the West. Dallas will play at Colorado on Saturday afternoon, then face off with Vegas twice and St. Louis once over the next two weeks. That’s important for a team that’s jockeying for position in the Central Division.

“It doesn’t get any easier,” said Stars coach Pete DeBoer. “There’s no rest in this league, you’ve got to be ready for the next one.”

Especially in the Central Division. There are four Central teams among the top 11 in terms of points percentage. Winnipeg is second at 31-12-3 (.707), Dallas is sixth at 28-15-1 (.648), Minnesota is seventh at 27-14-4 (.644) and Colorado is 11th at 27-18-1 (.598). The positioning can definitely change in the second half of the season, and that means every point is huge. If you finish first in the Central, you face a wild card team. If you finish second, you have home ice against one of the other teams. If you finish third, you go on the road.

That’s a big difference.

DeBoer said that he understands the push to be as good as possible, but added that he didn’t want the team to put everything into the regular season and then not have anything left for the playoffs.

“The Presidents’ Trophy last year was the Rangers and we were second, and neither of us got to the Stanley Cup Final,” DeBoer said. “So you don’t want to empty the tank chasing that. Having said that, you want the easiest path in the playoffs, having a Game 7 at home, as opposed to on the road. We had Game 7 in the first round against Vegas at home and I thought that was the difference in the series.”

Dallas won that Game 7 and then moved on to play Colorado. The Stars had home ice and won in Game 6 at Colorado. Those memories will come up on Saturday, as it’s the first time the Stars will be back at Ball Arena since Duchene won the game in double overtime. The Stars have beat Colorado twice in the playoffs in the past five seasons, so there is history.

“We haven’t seen them for a while and it’s always a good matchup, so we’re looking forward to it,” defenseman Esa Lindell said. “I always like when the crowd is going, even though it’s on the road.”

Goalie Jake Oettinger has a history of playing the spoiler on the road, and said he loves playing against the Avalanche.

“It’s awesome,” Oettinger said. “It’s always a great building to play in. They’re a great team. A team we’re going to be battling with and hopefully see in the playoffs. It’s fun to play those guys. I’m sure they want to beat us and we want to beat them. It’s just two good teams who have seen a lot of each other the last two years.”

And while it is just January, there still will be extra emotion in the game. The key for Dallas is managing that emotion.

“It’s just not beating yourself,” DeBoer said when asked for the key to a recent run. “We’re in the middle of nine games in 17 nights, so a lot of it is not turning pucks over, staying out of the penalty box, defending well. The biggest thing is not beating yourself, hanging around games. We’ve won a lot of games by hanging around until the third period and finding a way to win.”

Key Numbers 🔢

Plus-22

Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon has 43 points (17 goals, 26 assists) in 42 games against Dallas. He is also plus-22, his best mark against any opponent.

.914

Stars goalie Oettinger in his regular-season career is 5-3-1 against the Avalanche with a 3.05 GAA and a .914 save percentage.

14.2

Dallas ranks 31st in the league in hits per game at 14.2. Colorado ranks 27th at 18.6.

He Said It 📢

“Johnny brings tenacity, he hunts pucks, has a lot of takeaways. He follows our rules, he doesn’t deviate. He plays the right way, regardless of where he is on the ice. He doesn’t cheat. That makes it easy to read off of him. He’s an important part of our team.”

-Forward Robertson on getting Johnston as the center on his line

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.

Upcoming Games 📅

Opponent
Date
Time
Location
Stream
January 19
7:00 PM CT
American Airlines Center
January 21
7:00 PM CT
American Airlines Center
January 24
6:30 PM CT
American Airlines Center

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