NHL 25 predicts the Stars even up the series, Blackwood has another incredible game

Dallas went on the power play five times to Colorado’s one. We can only hope for the best.

NHL 25 picked the right winner of Game 1, but let’s hope their prediction for Game 2 goes the other way.

The longtime NHL video game simulation predicted that the Dallas Stars would even up the series Monday night at American Airlines Center with a 4-2 win.

Evgenii Dadonov had a hat trick for the Stars, and Mikko Rantanen added a goal against his former team. Marty Nečas scored both goals for the Avalanche.

Could there be controversy in this game? It’s a possibility according to the game. Dallas went on the power play five times, and Colorado was only on the man-advantage once in three periods, failing to convert on their only opportunity.

Mackenzie Blackwood was incredible despite taking the defeat. He stopped 47 of 51 shots, while Jake Oettinger stopped 31 of 33.

Recap

After a scoreless first period that saw Dallas control most of the action, the Stars exploded in the second period for three goals. The first one came from Rantanen when he recovered a loose puck from the right circle and sniped it over Blackwood’s blocker to give the Stars a 1-0 lead. On the very next play, Dallas scored again when Mikael Granlund found Dadonov down the right wing and fed him a perfect tap-in that beat Blackwood. The Stars weren’t done either. About 32 seconds later, Erik Johnson turned the puck over in front of Blackwood, and Dadonov was there for the taking and sniped another one by Blackwood. And just like that, Colorado was down 3-0.

Marty Nečas was able to get one back on a sweet wrister, but in reality, the Avalanche were outgunned from the start of this one. The 26-year-old, who was acquired by the Avalanche on January 24 in exchange for Mikko Rantanen, scored again off a MacKinnon rebound to put Colorado within a goal, but that’s the closest they got.

Less than a minute into the third, Dadonov snapped a wrister from the front of the net that beat Blackwood on the blocker side for the hat-trick. And once again, it was Granlund who set up the feed.

And of course, because it’s EA, there was a fair share of glitches that made the game amusing at points.

Dallas did set up some beautiful shots in this game. It could have had a different outcome if Colorado had found a way to reduce the defensive turnovers and provided Blackwood with more support. When you get outshot by nearly 20 shots, you’re putting a lot of stress on your netminder.

Note

Lineups were updated to the best of our ability. Gabriel Landeskog was on the fourth line, and Logan O’Connor was moved up to the third line to replace Ross Colton, who could miss some time with a lower-body injury.

Again, folks, let’s hope the simulation is wrong.