Stars vs Avalanche Picks and Prediction – 5/14/2024

Dallas Stars at Colorado Avalanche Prediction

On Monday, the Dallas Stars visit Ball Arena for Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals best of seven series versus the Colorado Avalanche. The opening face off will be at 9:30 PM ET and televised on ESPN. Dallas took a 2-1 lead in the series on Saturday when defeating Colorado 4-1 to regain home ice advantage. Make sure you stay up to date with all the NHL action, with our expert NHL picks.

Dallas Stars Preview

Dallas took back home ice advantage that was lost when losing one of two home games to open the series, after defeating Colorado 4-1 on Saturday night. Logan Stankoven and Tyler Seguin each scored a pair of goals for Dallas in the win, while Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger stood firm in goal against the high-powered Colorado offense.  

Dallas finished the regular season 52-21-9 with 113 points, winning the Central division. Dallas is seventh in goals for in the playoffs at 2.80 per game, through 10 games. The Stars are averaging 27.7 shots per game and the power play is scoring 29.2% of the time. Wyatt Johnston is leading Dallas in goals scored with five, while Tyler Seguin, Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen are tied for second with three apiece. Heiskanen is the leader in assists with six and two others have five assists each. Heiskanen leads Dallas in points with nine.

Dallas is fourth in goals against average at 2.40 per game, during the postseason. 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 10 games during the postseason, Oettinger is 6-4 with a goals against average of 2.12 and save percentage of .919.

Colorado Avalanche Preview

Colorado must bounce back from a loss in Game 3 with a victory on Monday in Game 4, otherwise the Avalanche will return to Dallas for Game 5 trailing 3-1 in the series and on the brink of elimination. Mikko Rantanen scored Colorado's only goal in Saturday’s loss to the Stars. 

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 4.50 per game. The Avalanche are averaging 33.9 shots per game, which is first among 16 playoff teams. Colorado is scoring 33.3% of the time on the power play. Valeri Nichushkin has nine goals to lead Colorado in the postseason and Artturi Lehkonen is second with five. Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen each have nine assists to lead the Avalanche, and the three are also the leaders in points for Colorado with 12 apiece. 

Colorado is 11th in goals against during the postseason at 3.38. 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 eight playoff games, Georgiev is 5-3 with a goals against average of 2.97 and save percentage of .893.