Avalanche vs Stars Picks and Prediction – 5/10/2024

Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars Prediction

The Colorado Avalanche visit American Airlines Center on Thursday to play Game 2 of their Western Conference semifinals best of seven series versus the Dallas Stars. The opening face off will be at 9:30 PM ET and televised on TNT. Colorado opened the series on Tuesday with a 4-3 overtime victory to take a 1-0 series lead and now has home ice advantage in the series. Make sure you stay up to date with all the NHL action, with our expert NHL picks.

Colorado Avalanche Preview

The Colorado Avalanche finished the regular season 50-25-7 with 107 points, which was third in the Central Division. Colorado was 19-16-6 on the road during the regular season and will look to jump out to a 2-0 series lead with a victory in Game 2 on Thursday.

Colorado is first in the postseason in goals for at 5.33 per game. The Avalanche are averaging 35.2 shots per game, which is the highest among 16 playoff teams. Colorado is scoring on 44.4% of its power plays. Valeri Nichushkin is the leading goal scorer for Colorado with eight and Artturi Lehkonen is second with five, while Cale Makar has nine assists to lead the Avalanche. Makar is the leader in points with 12, while Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen are second in points with nine apiece. 

During the regular season, Colorado goalie Alexandar Georgiev was 38-18-5 with a goals against average of 3.02 and save percentage of .897. In six playoff games, Georgiev is 5-1 with a goals against average of 2.94 and save percentage of .895. Colorado is 10th in goals against during the postseason at 3.00.

Dallas Stars Preview

Dallas must regroup quickly in Game 2 after squandering a 3-0 lead in Game 1 to lose in overtime 4-3. The Stars must win on Thursday in Game 2, as they cannot afford to head to Colorado for Game 3 trailing 2-0 in the series.

Dallas finished the regular season 52-21-9 with 113 points, winning the Central division. Dallas is 11th in goals for with an average of 2.38, through the first seven games of the playoffs, averaging 27.8 shots per game and the power play is scoring 27.8% of the time. Wyatt Johnston is the leading goal scorer for Dallas with five, while Jason Robertson is second with three. Miro Heiskanen is the leader in assists with five and four others have three assists each. Johnston is the leader in points with eight, 

Dallas is sixth among 16 playoff teams in goals against average at 2.50 per game. During the regular season, Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger was 35-14-4 with a goals against average of 2.72 and save percentage of .905. In eight games during the postseason, Oettinger is 4-4 with a goals against average of 2.21 and save percentage of .905.