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.
