The Dallas Stars are in a hole that is all too common.They have advanced to the second game of their playoff series six times in a row, including four home games, after a loss in the first round.
We acknowledge that it’s not perfect. And that isn’t the idea at all, according to Stars coach Pete DeBoer’s statement on Wednesday.
Forward Joe Pavelski said, “When you put yourself in that position enough, you’re kind of playing with fire.”
To prevent a repetition of the first round, the Stars will take on Colorado in Game 2 of their second-round Western Conference series on Thursday night (9:30 p.m. ET/TNT). They were defeated by Vegas, the Stanley Cup winners from the previous year, in their first two home games two weeks ago, but they rallied to win the series in seven games.
The Carolina Hurricanes take on the Rangers 0-2 at home in the lone other NHL playoff game on Thursday. After winning 4-3 in double OT on Tuesday night, New York has now won all six of their playoff games.
Dallas dropped the first game of both series it played last year at home, but bounced back to win the second game in each case, winning six games against Minnesota and seven against Seattle.
The 2022 Cup winners Avalanche had won five straight after suffering a shocking 7–6 setback in Winnipeg to start the playoffs. After going a full week without playing, Colorado defeated Dallas 4-3 in overtime after falling down 3-0 in the first round.
Nathan MacKinnon, a centre for the Avalanche who scored the game-tying goal in the first minute of the third period, said, “I definitely feel better when I’m in a rhythm.” “I detest having time off. However, I believe that when we play (Games) 2-3-4, we’ll feel better.
This playoffs, four players from Colorado have scored points in each of their four games: defender Cale Makar, former Stars first-round selection Valeri Nichushkin, league MVP contender MacKinnon, and Mikko Rantannen. Everyone has many objectives.
Some of the Stars’ top scorers are still waiting to heat up in the playoffs.
Pavelski, who was born in the United States and has the most career playoff goals (73), is still without a goal this playoffs and just picked up his first assist in Game 1 against the Avs. Matt Duchene only has one goal, while Roope Hintz’s one goal—which came against Vegas—came from an empty-net effort with no assists. After making his NHL debut in late February, rookie Logan Stankoven scored six goals in his first twelve games, but he hasn’t scored in the remaining 12 regular-season games or the eight playoff games.
“Our team’s strength has been Matt Duchene’s line, who scores if Roope Hintz’s line fails to do so.” Wyatt Johnston’s line will score if Matt Duchene’s line is unable to score. Our fourth line scores if none of those players do’, DeBoer said. “This series needs to showcase our depth.”
RANGERS vs. HURRICANES, 7 p.m. ET (TNT), New York leads 2-0So far, the special teams fight has been a complete loss. Carolina needs to close that disparity.
Both the power play and the penalty kill saw the clubs rated in the top three throughout the regular season, with Carolina topping the league in the latter category (86.4%). However, the Hurricanes are 0 for 10, going 0 for 5 in both games, while the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers have scored two goals on the power play in each of the first two games.
Rangers defender Adam Fox said, “This time of year, special teams can win a series, win games,” after Tuesday’s double-overtime victory that was determined by a power-play goal.
Everyone is aware that the focus is on power plays and penalty kicks, as Carolina forward Martin Necas said on Wednesday. They have already destroyed us in them.
So far, Carolina has mustered ten shots on goal while on the power play.
Coach Rod Brind’Amour said, “We’ve got to get a little more at the net, a little more inside.” “We’re settling for that because they’re keeping us a little too close to the outside.”
The Hurricanes hold a 20-shot lead (82-62) and a 188-142 advantage in shot attempts, among other favourable statistics. Along with outscoring the Rangers in even strength (6-4) and 5-on-5 play (5-4), Carolina also doubled their number of shots on goal (30-15) in the third period.
Additionally, through the first two games, Carolina has won 53.1% of faceoffs, which has reversed the road problems from the first-round series against the New York Islanders (35%).
Necas said, “Obviously it’s frustrating because you don’t feel like you deserve to lose there two times in a row.” “Both games were decided by special teams, and they were more skilled at those.”
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Dallas Stars are in a familiar hole after their sixth Game 1 loss; the Avs want to defeat them 0-2 once again.
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