{"id":4576,"date":"2025-04-28T15:36:07","date_gmt":"2025-04-28T21:36:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/?p=4576"},"modified":"2025-04-28T15:36:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-28T21:36:07","slug":"pete-deboer-has-been-bracing-for-a-long-series-stars-avalanche-is-headed-that-direction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/2025\/04\/28\/pete-deboer-has-been-bracing-for-a-long-series-stars-avalanche-is-headed-that-direction\/","title":{"rendered":"Pete DeBoer has been bracing for a long series. Stars-Avalanche is headed that direction"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stars Send Message in Game 4 Loss to Avalanche<\/h1>\n

DENVER \u2014 The Stars sent a message when they came out for the third period of Saturday\u2019s 4-0 loss to the Avalanche in Game 4.<\/p>\n

Trailing 3-0 at the time, Stars goalie Jake Oettinger was the team\u2019s best player. He had made 21 saves on 22 shots in the second period alone.<\/p>\n

But instead of taking his position in goal, he took a seat on the bench. Backup Casey DeSmith entered the game.<\/p>\n

It had nothing to do with the three goals he allowed or an injury. Rather, the Stars wanted to rest their goalie, who had already played almost four complete playoff games in a week. It reinforced a message Stars coach Pete DeBoer has stuck with all series.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone predicted this was going to be a short series,\u201d DeBoer said Saturday morning. \u201cWhen you settle in for that ride and when you get two teams like this, it might take overtime Game 7 to decide this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Series Overview<\/h2>\n

The Stars-Avalanche series was regarded as the league\u2019s best first-round matchup weeks before the playoffs began. Even with injuries to Miro Heiskanen and Jason Robertson, it was still one of the most anticipated between two of the NHL\u2019s Stanley Cup contenders.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew this was a conference final in the first round,\u201d Stars forward Matt Duchene said.<\/p>\n

Dallas knew if it was going to win this series, it most likely wouldn\u2019t do so in four or five games. Even six was a stretch. <\/p>\n

Both sides have been bracing for a seven-game series even before the puck first dropped, and now tied 2-2, that\u2019s where it looks like they\u2019re heading.<\/p>\n

Ups and Downs of a Seven-Game Series<\/h3>\n

A seven-game series that typically spans about two weeks comes with its ups and downs. Both DeBoer and Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar have addressed that in recent days.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne game changes your world,\u201d DeBoer said. \u201cIt really does, on either end. You\u2019re winning, you feel great, and you\u2019re losing, and you think the world\u2019s ending.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Stars have had moments to feel at their best, winning back-to-back overtime games, including one at Ball Arena on the night of the highly anticipated return of Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog.<\/p>\n

But Colorado has had its moments as well, including two four-goal routs of the Stars in Games 1 and 4. Game 1 looked better than the score indicated. Game 4 may have looked worse.<\/p>\n

Colorado Avalanche center Jack Drury, left, tussles with Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz in the first period of Game 4 of an NHL first-round playoff series Saturday, April 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo\/David Zalubowski)<\/p>\n

(David Zalubowski \/ AP)<\/span><\/p>\n

Concerns and Areas for Improvement<\/h4>\n

The Stars allowed 48 shots on goal on Saturday, two special teams goals, including a shorthanded one, and took just 12 shots of their own after the first period. They were completely outplayed after the first intermission. After the second, their attention had already turned to the next game, as evidenced by the goalie switch.<\/p>\n

After the Avalanche\u2019s back-to-back losses, Bednar reminded his team that it\u2019s a seven-game series for a reason. DeBoer and the players expressed a similar message.<\/p>\n

Returning home to Dallas and possibly returning Heiskanen in the next few games, there\u2019s a lot to look forward to for the Stars.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s also reason to be concerned that can\u2019t be ignored.<\/p>\n

The Stars have still only led for 62 seconds of the series. They\u2019ve taken careless penalties at critical times, including two late in regulation in Games 2 and 3 and an elbowing penalty by Mason Marchment in Game 4 that allowed Colorado to take a 2-0 lead and sent Dallas into its spiral.<\/p>\n

The Stars haven\u2019t been able to get to Avalanche goalie Mackenzie Blackwood nearly enough. He basically got the night off for two periods on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Next Steps and Outlook<\/h5>\n

One bad game is no reason to panic in a seven-game series that both teams were prepared for. The Stars hold home-ice advantage in what\u2019s now a three-game series. <\/p>\n

But Dallas can only afford to have one more game like Saturday, or the long playoff run they\u2019ve spent all season preparing for may end sooner than they ever thought it would.<\/p>\n

\u201cMomentum is a fleeting thing,\u201d Duchene said. \u201cWe lost it. They gained it. Now it\u2019s time for us to take it back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Twitter: @lassimak<\/p>\n

\"Dallas
\nDallas Stars rule out Miro Heiskanen for Game 5 vs. Colorado Avalanche<\/span>
\n<\/p>\n

Heiskanen had knee surgery in February and hasn\u2019t played since Jan. 28.<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stars Send Message in Game 4 Loss to Avalanche DENVER \u2014 The Stars sent a message when they came out for the third period of Saturday\u2019s 4-0 loss to the Avalanche in Game 4. Trailing 3-0 at the time, Stars goalie Jake Oettinger was the team\u2019s best player. He had made 21 saves on 22 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":4577,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-4576","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/dmn-dallas-news-prod.cdn.arcpublishing.com\/resizer\/v2\/HGM6XO626FX5YYKGT4ILVHH2SE.jpg?auth=13ede7be6dcd7cda178efa2ea3182a883836defdf2248cdebda9cc465a215a8b&height=630&width=1200&focal=1561,871&quality=80","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4576"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4576"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4576\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4578,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4576\/revisions\/4578"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/dallas\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}