Game 3 Preview: We Must Protect This House!

The Colorado Avalanche return home tied 1-1 with the Dallas Stars, and need more top six offense to win at Ball Arena.

Credit to the Dallas Stars, down a goal in the third period of Game 2, they refused to fly to Denver without getting at least one win at home. That game may not have ended the way Colorado Avalanche fans wanted, but it was absolutely the most exciting hockey game the Avs have played in a while — they just needed to win to make it even better. Back in Ball Arena with some exciting reinforcements likely returning to the lineup, they’ll look to dial back the back-and-forth excitement a bit and win this one clean.

Colorado Avalanche

So far, the Avs have two goals at 5v5 from their top nine forward group, the Artturi Lehkonen kick goal and Charlie Coyle’s garbage timer – both in Game 1. That’s not going to cut it.

On the flip side, the fourth line followed up a dominant defensive Game 1 with two goals in Game 2. Counting on them to continue bringing the offense like that is ill-advised, but with the way Logan O’Connor is playing right now, that group should be able to continue making a difference.

Of course. There’s one major storyline everyone knows about Colorado, and one major question everyone’s asking: Is Gabriel Landeskog returning for the home playoff opener? According to Jared Bednar, it looks likely.

After the roster fakeout in Game 2, probably best to believe the Landy return when you actually see it happen – but it does feel like tonight is the night. Miles Wood played fine in his role on the third line until a brutal turnover and defensive lapse led to the OT winner for the Stars, and he would likely be swapped out for the Captain if he does indeed return.

On the backend, Erik Johnson could get a night off to make room for Sam Malinski to slot in next to Ryan Lindgren, as EJ’s legs looked a little slow even before the OT. Still a useful player, but this elder statesman version of EJ needs some nights off to stay effective.

Projected Lineup

Artturi Lehkonen – Nathan MacKinnon – Martin Necas
Jonathan Drouin – Brock Nelson – Valeri Nichushkin
Parker Kelly – Jack Drury – Logan O’Connor
Gabriel Landeskog – Charlie Coyle – Joel Kiviranta

Devon Toews – Cale Makar
Ryan Lindgren – Sam Malinski
Samuel Girard – Josh Manson

Dallas Stars

Game 2 was Dallas’ best effort in about a month, snapped an eight-game losing skid, and drew the series even. They did it by getting pucks in behind the Avs’ defense, winning the ensuing board battles, and then putting the puck into the crease area and crashing the net hard. Those are dirty, hard-working, playoff goals, and if they can keep dictating the physical play in all areas of the ice, they have a good chance to pick up a win or two in Denver.

Tyler Seguin looked good in his second game back from a long injury absence, and Sam Steel led the team in points with two assists. The stars for the Stars still haven’t made a huge impact on this series, as Colorado has largely contained Roope Hintz and expats Matt Duchene and Mikko Rantanen. A breakout game from any of those three would be a big boost for Big D.

On the back end, Lian Bichsel made his presence felt throughout game two after the whistle and was decent before it, too, as he and his partner, Alex Petrovic, surprisingly led the blueline in possession metrics. Thomas Harley scored one goal, and the rest of the backend was quietly effective, which is exactly what Dallas is looking for from its defense without Miro Heiskanen.

Speaking of Heiskanen, he has been skating on his own but not yet participating in any practice, meaning his return does not appear to be imminent. Jason Robertson has not skated yet, so he is even further away.

Projected Lineup

Mikael Granlund – Roope Hintz – Evgenii Dadonov
Mason Marchment – Matt Duchene – Tyler Seguin
Jamie Benn – Wyatt Johnston – Mikko Rantanen
Oskar Back – Sam Steel – Colin Blackwell

Thomas Harley – Ilya Lyubushkin
Esa Lindell – Cody Ceci
Lian Bichsel – Alex Petrovic

Goaltending

Mackenzie Blackwood returned to Earth a bit after a dominant Game 1 with a good Game 2 that just wasn’t quite good enough. Jake Oettinger played a solid game as well, but wasn’t tested as much as his Colorado foil. Both will keep their nets in Game 3.