Stars vs Avalanche Picks and Prediction – 5/12/2024

Dallas Stars at Colorado Avalanche Prediction

The Dallas Stars visit Ball Arena on Saturday to play Game 3 of the Western Conference semifinals best of seven series versus the Colorado Avalanche. The opening face off will be at 10:00 PM ET and televised on TNT. Dallas bounced back from a loss in Game 1 with a 5-3 victory in Game 2 on Thursday to level the series at 1-1. Games 3 and 4 will be played in Colorado. Make sure you stay up to date with all the NHL action, with our expert NHL picks.

Dallas Stars Preview

Dallas secured a much needed win at home on Thursday when defeating Colorado in Game 2 of the series behind a pair of power play goals by Miro Heiskanen, while Roope Hintz scored a goal and added three assists.  

Dallas finished the regular season 52-21-9 with 113 points, winning the Central division. Dallas is ninth in goals for, averaging 2.67 per game, through the first nine playoff games. The Stars are averaging 28.1 shots per game and the power play is scoring 30.4% of the time. Wyatt Johnston is the leading goal scorer for Dallas with five, while Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen are tied for second with three apiece. Heiskanen is the leader in assists with five and two others have four assists each. Johnston leads Dallas in points with eight.

Dallas is sixth in goals against average during the playoff at 2.56 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 5-4 with a goals against average of 2.24 and save percentage of .914.

Colorado Avalanche Preview

Colorado will look to bounce back with a victory at home on Saturday when hosting the Dallas Stars in Game 3 of the series. Colorado controls the home ice advantage in this series after winning one of the first two games in Dallas but must win to continue holding that advantage. The Avalanche finished the regular season 50-25-7 with 107 points, which was third in the Central Division. 

Colorado is first in the postseason in goals for at 5.00 per game. The Avalanche are averaging 34.6 shots per game, which is the highest among 16 playoff teams. Colorado is scoring 28.1% of the time on the power play. Valeri Nichushkin is the leading goal scorer for Colorado with nine and Artturi Lehkonen is second with five. Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen each have 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 10 apiece. 

Colorado is 11th in goals against during the postseason at 3.29. 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 3.10 and save percentage of .891.