What went wrong for Dallas Stars vs Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 of Round 1 Stanley Cup playoffs

The Dallas Stars were on the wrong end of a 5-1 thumping at the hands of the Colorado Avalanche in their Stanley Cup playoffs opener on Saturday night at the American Airlines Center.

The Avalanche jumped out to a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes. But even though the Stars cut the lead in half, the Avalanche pulled away with three unanswered goals, putting the game away with two empty-netters in the final three minutes.

Nathan MacKinnon had a whale of a game, registering three points (2G, 1A) and the game’s first star. So, let’s take a look at what went wrong for the Dallas Stars against the Colorado Avalanche in their Stanley Cup playoffs opener on Saturday night.

What went wrong for Dallas Stars vs Colorado Avalanche in Game 1 of Round 1 Stanley Cup playoffs

#3 The Stars failed to stop MacKinnon, Makar

The Dallas Stars failed to contain the Avalanche’s top two stars: Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.

MacKinnon had two goals, including a power-play marker in the first period. Let’s check it out:

The Stars inexplicably gave MacKinnon all the time and space he needed to bury his first of the Stanley Cup playoffs past Jake Oettinger.

Meanwhile, Oettinger was slow to react, allowing the puck to cruise right under his glove for the goal. The Stars did nothing to stop MacKinnon from hitting the back of the net.

As for Makar, he assisted on MacKinnon’s power-play tally, playing over 23 minutes and looking in total control.

#2 Oettinger was an off-night

Dallas starting netminder Jake Oettinger had an atypical rough night. While he only surrendered three goals, he didn’t look quite as sharp as he usually does. In addition to the bad goal scored by MacKinnon, Oettinger would have probably liked to have back Devon Toews’ tally.

Here’s a look:

For some reason, no one picked up Toews at the side of the net. As Josh Manson faked the shot, Oettinger completely bought it, thinking the puck would hit on net. Manson instead made a shot-pass, hitting Toews right on the tape for the goal.

The marker put the Avalanche up 3-1 and sealed the victory in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

#1 Lackluster offense

Roope Hintz got the Dallas Stars on the board in the third period - Source: Imagn

The Stars’ offense essentially took the night off as they failed to get much going. Besides Roope Hintz’s goal in the third period, the Stars couldn’t do much to beat MacKenzie Blackwood.

Blackwood, incidentally, was making his playoff debut. The questions hovering over Blackwood’s ability to handle the playoff pressure seemed to hit the dustbin as he was terrific in goal. The Stars only managed the one goal on 24 shots, failing to generate much offense in the first 40 minutes.

Other top Dallas scorers like Tyler Seguin and Matt Duchene did not factor in the game. As for Mikko Rantanen, he had a quiet night, registering a minus-2 in over 18 minutes.

The Stars and Avalanche will meet again on Monday night for Game 2 of their Stanley Cup playoffs first-round series.