Dallas Stars (37-24-8, third in the Central Division during the regular season) vs. Colorado Avalanche (42-20-8, second in the Central Division during the regular season)
Edmonton, Alberta; Saturday, 8 p.m. EDT
WESTERN CONFERENCE SECOND ROUND: Colorado and Dallas begin series
BOTTOM LINE: The Colorado Avalanche face the Dallas Stars to start the Western Conference second round. The teams meet Saturday for the fifth time this season. Colorado went 4-0 against Colorado during the regular season.
The Avalanche have gone 10-8-2 against division opponents. Colorado leads the Western Conference averaging 3.4 goals per game, led by Nathan MacKinnon with 35.
The Stars are 12-9-3 against Central Division teams. Dallas has given up 44 power-play goals, killing 79.7% of opponent chances.
TOP PERFORMERS: MacKinnon leads the Avalanche with 93 points, scoring 35 goals and registering 58 assists. Nazem Kadri has six goals and five assists over the last 10 games for Colorado.
Miro Heiskanen leads the Stars with a plus-14 in 68 games this season. Joe Pavelski has six goals and three assists over the last 10 games for Dallas.
DURING THE PLAYOFFS: Avalanche: Averaging 3.9 goals, 6.9 assists, 3.5 penalties and 7.0 penalty minutes while giving up 1.6 goals per game with a .933 save percentage.
Stars: Averaging 2.8 goals, 4.8 assists, 3.3 penalties and 7.2 penalty minutes while giving up 3.0 goals per game with a .904 save percentage.
INJURIES: Avalanche: Vladislav Namestnikov: day to day (undisclosed).
Stars: Stephen Johns: out (undisclosed), Ben Bishop: out (unfit to play).
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by , and data from ,.
