What the Dallas Stars need to do to bounce back against the Colorado Avalanche

The Dallas Stars have lost their last six Game 1s in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Their most recent win came in the 2020 Stanley Cup Final. 

Their most recent defeat came on Tuesday at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche, who overcame a 3-0 first-period deficit to beat Dallas in overtime.

Dallas is well aware of the pressure that comes with losing the first two games of a series at home. They just did it and were forced to scratch and claw their way back to knock off the Vegas Golden Knights in round one. They also know they probably can’t do that again. 

So how do the Stars bounce back to pick up a crucial win in Game 2 on Thursday? 

They need to continue to play the way they did all season.

Outside of a few bad penalties and some massive pushes from Colorado, Dallas controlled a large portion of Game 1. But if they are going to win this series, they need to focus on their structure and defense to avoid getting into a track meet with some of the best players in the world.

Tyler Yaremchuk: What are you looking for in the bounce-back effort from Dallas? For me, you’re not going to fight fire with fire. I think you’ve got to try to keep this thing low-scoring, grind it out, don’t let Nathan MacKinnon start skating downhill at you. 

Frank Seravalli: That’s kind of the difference between one three-goal lead to me and another one 24 hours prior. I looked at the way the [Edmonton] Oilers played and how they sat back and how they went 22 minutes without a shot on goal as their mistake… Colorado just took it to Dallas and they didn’t have an answer… 

That’s a really good team making a comeback… What does Dallas need to do?… They need to try to button this up as much as they can… Just put a damper on the Avs… They are a high-flying offense… But they can also make mistakes. 

You can watch the full segment and episode here: