Three Thoughts - Stars Can't Close It in 6.
It was always going seven against these guys and now we hope that history holds true.
You know you are in a great best-of-seven series when it always felt like you would need the full allotment to see the thing through.
I am not a big fan of this current NHL playoff format as I think divisions are antiquated – they existed when travel was cumbersome and often on trains and then left in when leagues learned that everyone would be impressed enough to buy merchandise that celebrated lesser consolation accomplishments like winning a small division – so the idea of making the best teams play each-other in Round 1 is just not good business.
But, here we are.
A great hockey team is going home Saturday Night and now the object of this series is to win the war by any means available and to quote General George S Patton, “to make sure it is the other guy who dies for his country.”
Ok, that is a little thick, of course, as this is just hockey. But, the animosity and the history of these two organizations is off the charts. They both are terrified at the thoughts of losing the dream at the expense of the other team moving on, knowing full well that if you lose to them, they might haul off and carry the cup soon enough. It is that type of 1st round series. The one where you sort of think this might be your biggest challenge of the entire playoffs.
In one corner is the Colorado Avalanche. A team so talented they won the 2022 Stanley Cup and have spent a huge part of this series as the dominant side. There is not a single metric that suggests that they don’t have every right to this series. Corsi has Colorado at a 59% to 41% edge. Fenwick? 59% to 41%. XGoal? 23.6 to 21. High danger chances? 88 to 76. In literally every department, the Avalanche have too much skill, speed, and depth for the Stars in their current form to out-last them over a large sample. It is reasonable to admit that a few overtime winners and home ice advantage are allowing Dallas a chance to play in Game 7. They have the best player in this series and the best defenseman and I am not even sure it is close to debatable. They are pure danger at every turn.
In the other corner is the Dallas Stars. They earned the home ice advantage and even lost seven in a row to a Colorado and the Avalanche still couldn’t catch them. They are playing without their leading scorer and their leading defenseman in a series against an Avalanche side who is fully healthy. They haven’t had Jason Robertson for one shift and yet he has 60 more points than any other Dallas Star in the last three seasons. They haven’t had Miro Heiskanen for one shift and yet he has had 50 more points than any other defenseman for Dallas in the last three seasons. Both are missing due to injury and they are still standing as a team. Since 2019, no franchise in the NHL has played more playoff games than Dallas. They know what to do this time of year and they don’t go quietly. They have also played three all-time Game 7’s against the Colorado Avalanche and have won all three.
This is a true clash of the titans and we sit here because Colorado fought off elimination and were trailing in the 2nd intermission in Game 6 with a heroic 3rd Period to win, 7-4.
These Are My Three Thoughts: