DALLAS — The Colorado Avalanche kicks off its playoff run against the Dallas Stars. Game One takes place in the heart of Texas at the American Airlines Center.

The time has finally come. The most important and heart-wrenching games are here. No better way to spend a Saturday night.

After this series, one team will continue its gauntlet in pursuit of the Stanley Cup. For the other, their season will come to a disappointing end. Both the Avs and Stars will look to get the edge over the other starting now.

Colorado Avalanche (0-0)

The Avs ended the regular season 49-29-4, just one win shy of eclipsing the 50 mark. Considering the start of the season they had, it’s pretty remarkable that they finished with a pretty good record. They earned win number 49 in a four-goal comeback over the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday night.

Colorado pulled off the comeback behind a great push from usual bottom-six contenders who were playing up last game. The Avalanche rested key guys over the weekend, giving the likes of Parker Kelly and Charlie Coyle advanced time to improve their own games. Coyle rides the hot hand with a six-game point streak entering this game.

He will be joined by a practically fully healthy Avs lineup. Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar, Devon Toews, Jonathan Drouin, Ryan Lindgren, Josh Manson, and Ross Colton will all slot in after getting last weekend off. Both Artturi Lehkonen and Valeri Nichushkin were held out against Anaheim with lower-body injuries, but will be good to go.

And there just might be an NHL return for Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog for the first time in three years.

Projected Lines

Artturi Lehkonen (62) – Nathan MacKinnon (29) – Martin Necas (88)
Jonathan Drouin (27) – Brock Nelson (11) – Valeri Nichushkin (13)
Gabriel Landeskog (92) – Charlie Coyle (10) – Ross Colton (20)
Parker Kelly (17) – Jack Drury (18) – Logan O’Connor (25)

Devon Toews (7) – Cale Makar (8)
Samuel Girard (49) – Josh Manson (42)
Ryan Lindgren (55) – Sam Malinski (70)

Mackenzie Blackwood (39)
Scott Wedgewood (41)

Dallas Stars (0-0)

Dallas enters this series on one of their worst skids of the season, both on and off the ice. Already knowingly locked into this matchup with the Avalanche for the last few weeks, they took their foot off the gas. Their last game was a demoralizing 5-1 loss to end the season against the Nashville Predators on Wednesday night.

Not only was it a seventh straight loss, but they lost a key contributor. Jason Robertson left the game with an injury and was later spotted leaving Bridgestone Arena with a brace on his right knee. Since then, he has been ruled out and will be week-to-week.

They did get the return of Tyler Seguin from hip surgery, and he’ll slowly adjust back into his game. Already without Miro Hiskanen to start the series, Dallas might feel on the back foot despite holding the home-ice advantage. They have dropped seven straight Game Ones and will look to turn the tide.

Projected Lines

Mikael Granlund (64) – Roope Hintz (24) – Evgenii Dadonov (63)
Mason Marchment (27) – Matt Duchene (95) – Tyler Seguin (91)
Jamie Benn (14) – Wyatt Johnston (53) – Mikko Rantanen (96)
Oskar Back (10) – Sam Steel (18) – Mavrik Bourque (22)

Esa Lindell (23) – Cody Ceci (44)
Thomas Harley (55) – Ilya Lyubushkin (46)
Lian Bichsel (6) – Alex Petrovic (28)

Jake Oettinger (29)
Casey DeSmith (1)

Game Details

Time: 6:30 p.m. MT

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