What to watch in the Avalanche-Stars second-round playoff series

After squeaking by the Vegas Golden Knights with a 2-1 Game 7 win last Sunday, the Dallas Stars now find themselves preparing for Game 1 in their second-round matchup against the Colorado Avalanche.

Nathan MacKinnon was named a finalist for the Hart Trophy on Tuesday, and last week, Cale Makar was announced as a finalist for the Norris Trophy. Despite the impressive pedigree on the Avalanche, some will make the case the Stars, with eight 20-goal scorers and nine players with over 50 points, have an edge in terms of depth.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss the second-round series and which team will come out on top.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Let’s take a lookahead to what’s going on Tuesday in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, as it’s Game 1 between the Avalanche and the Stars. When you look at the way those two first-round series played out for the two teams, the numbers stand out.

Colorado scored a ton, totalling 28 goals in their 4-1 series victory over the Jets, while the Stars won a lot of low-scoring, one-goal games over the Golden Knights. Which team is going to dictate how this series goes? Will Dallas be comfortable getting into a bit of a shootout?

Frank Seravalli: I think that would be a mistake, with the firepower the Avs have and how quickly they move the puck. Almost every team would be at a disadvantage if Colorado dictates the pace.

That said, I think Dallas has shown their ability to weather the storm, and have put themselves in a position where they can play just about any way. They have guys who can move the puck on their backend, and I think that have more depth than Colorado.

Yes, the Avalanche have the best overall player in Nathan MacKinnon and the best defender in Cale Makar, but when you look at the whole forward group, I think Dallas has the edge.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…