Game 5 presents an interesting mystery for hockey fans as the lone game on the NHL schedule tonight. The Dallas Stars walked into Denver, whopped the Colorado Avalanche in front of the Avs faithful, and secured a 3-1 series lead. The best road team in the NHL looked the part with a nine-to-two scoring advantage over Game 3 & Game 4 in Denver.
The Stars have returned to Dallas with their sights set on a return to the first trip back to the Western Conference Finals since 2022-23 when the Stars fell to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights in six games.
NOT ALL OF THE STARS ARE ALIGNING PERFECTLY
The Dallas Stars will be playing without a top forward entering Game 5. Head Coach Pete DeBoer announced Wednesday morning that center Roope Hintz will not be available for his lineup. Hintz has six points in the postseason. Coach DeBoer made adjustments in Game 4 that should apply to Game 5:
“We essentially played without him last game,” Pete DeBoer said of Hintz. “I think he played six, seven minutes (6:35). So, we shifted everybody around last game, so it’s not a major adjustment.”
It is not all bad news on the injury front for Dallas as blueliner Chris Tavev returns to the Stars’ defense in Game 5 after missing the final minutes of the last game. The 6’2 right-handed defenseman has been everything a GM can dream of in a trade deadline acquisition. Tanev leads the Stars team in blocks with 41 while logging over 23 minutes of ice time.
SOME HELP COMING COLORADO IN GAME 5
Colorado also will get some added reinforcements on the backend with Devon Toews available for Game 5. Toews was unavailable on Monday night due to illness. The Avalanche have struggled to score goals all series, and missing Toews’ five postseason assists did them no favors in the most recent loss.
The Avalanche’s scoring troubles loom large as they have failed to generate a lead during gameplay in four games. The only scoreboard advantage Colorado has seen was the Game One OT winner from Miles Wood. Colorado’s bench boss has addressed his team accordingly:
“For the first period (in Game 4) we didn’t do enough of that [score first]“, coach Jared Bednar stated. “I think our guys understand, especially now, the importance of trying to get a lead and forcing them to get out of their shell a little bit”.
Bednar better hope the Avalanche figure things out tonight or else they will be able to take the rest of the offseason to dissect what went wrong against the Dallas Stars.
CAPTAIN COLORADO TO PLAY THIS SERIES?
Colorado is still without key forward Gabriel Landeskog during their playoff journey thus far. The Avalanche captain had a surgical procedure on his right knee on May 10. 2023. The timeframe for recovery according to Colorado GM Chris MacFarland was expected to be a year+.
Game 5 sits right at the beginning of the time period when Landeskog could play. Whether he should lace up the skates is a far bigger, more involved question. Landeskog’s last game was June 22, 2022, when he hoisted the Stanley Cup with his Avalanche friends.
Throwing him into the 2024 Playoffs would be a shortsighted move by Avalanche management. Given how Colorado has looked overall in this matchup with Dallas, there is no reason to risk the franchise Captain’s future hockey career to jump into this street fight against Dallas.
About The Author
Christopher Babos is a genuine sports & entertainment journalist with diverse credentials in writing, broadcasting, and digital media. With a varied professional background that includes an M.B.A. in Sports Management from Tiffin University, Chris can speak with authority on the subject matters that he covers. Additional insightful sports articles can be located here.
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