The playoffs are complicated. Each series is its own story, and each game is its own chapter encompassing a dozen moments and plot points. But the playoffs can also be simple. Each of those moments, those plot points, falls into one of two buckets: the things we observe and the emotions they inspire within us. That’s what we’re here to talk about.
What We Saw
It was a dream start—until it wasn’t.
Less than 48 hours after dispatching the 2023 Stanley Cup Champions, the Stars opened up a 3-0 first-period lead against the 2022 Stanley Cup champions on home ice. In fact, Jamie Benn nearly scored to make it 4-0 on the final play of the first period. You can imagine the Stars almost laughing at how easy it would be as they went to the locker room with the game comfortably in hand.
Even still, 3-0. At home. In the first period.
The building was rocking. The Stars had done their job, and they could coast the rest of the night. Right?
But then the Avalanche woke up.
Colorado started skating, getting pucks deep behind the Stars, and creating both shots and possession off those aggressive chip-and-chase shifts. While Vegas was the big and bulky team, the Avalanche swarmed Dallas and dished out 45 hits, more than the Stars had taken in all but two games against Vegas. The fresher team that hadn’t played in a week made it a point of emphasis to remind the Stars just how tired they were.
It was enough to change the tide of the game. Once it did, Colorado superstars Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar delivered, having a hand in all three of the Avalanche goals to tie the game at 3-3.
The Stars finally snapped out of their funk in overtime, just in time for Avalanche goalie Alexander Georgiev to perform like the best player on the ice. The Bulgarian weathered a Dallas storm for the first time since the first period, highlighted by robbing Tyler Seguin with his glove and left pad for one of the saves of the night.
That set the stage for Miles Wood to win a race against Miro Heiskanen and Chris Tanev, with the Avalanche depth forward playing hero to give Colorado a 1-0 series lead. Wood played only 13 minutes Game 1 and hadn’t appeared in a game in a week. He was fresh and energized in overtime, while the normally smooth skating Heiskanen was nearing 30 minutes of ice time, typical of the workload he’d been handling every other day for a week as Colorado rested up.
In that moment, Vegas may have beaten the Stars as much as Colorado did. The body shots of a seven-game series set up a different opponent to come in and deliver the overtime haymaker. Now it’s time to see if Dallas has the stamina to get off the canvas. —Sean Shapiro
What It Felt Like
Even if it’s Dallas’ year, it’s not like this was ever going to be easy.
The Stars are fresh off a brutal seven-game series with the defending Cup champs, and not two days later, they’re staring down the barrel of a Nathan MacKinnon and a Cale Makar, both of whom had monster games. And to top it off, the game went into overtime, further testing Dallas’ legs. If this is how Colorado head coach Jared Bednar drew it up, then it was the perfect plan.
The Avalanche’s fresh legs beating Dallas’ tired legs will dominate the narrative. And while there’s certainly some truth to that, there’s more to the story. After all, that could have been Boston’s excuse versus Florida, but it wasn’t. Instead, I think this is a story of a lost opportunity. It was 3-0. That’s the lesson. That’s the meme. That’s really the long and short of it.
Sure, there were other obstacles, like that bizarre embellishment call late in the third period. But it’s not just that Dallas blew such a wide lead. Tuesday night felt like what the series will shape up as in the long run: a series of lightning-quick strikes. All it took for Dallas to blow such an incomprehensible lead were two penalties, nothing more.
It is, of course, just one game. It may not feel like it, but it is just one game. Just don’t look at the latest lost Game 1 as a silver lining. Yes, Dallas has overcome that trend dating back to last year’s playoffs, but if anything, this is exactly the kind of stuff that comes back to haunt teams.
No, the silver lining is that Dallas’ young guys still look up to the task. It remains a tall one, and this series will challenge the capabilities of players such as Wyatt Johnston, who looks primed to go head to head with MacKinnon. But the firepower is there. For now, they need to focus on keeping their heads on straight. —David Castillo
Authors
Sean Shapiro
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