Colorado Avalanche Four-peat against the Dallas Stars
The Colorado Avalanche are hosting the Dallas Stars for their fourth meeting this season and third in the Pepsi Center.
As Yogi Berra once commented, it’s deja vu all over again for the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars. The two teams are meeting for the fourth of five meetings this year. (For you fancy stats folks, that means the Stars have thus far represented 16% of the Avalanche’s schedule.)
In the previous meetings, the Colorado Avalanche beat the Stars twice, even shutting them out the second time. Both wins happened on home ice, while the single loss happened in Dallas.
At the time of writing, the Stars had three points over the Avalanche and had the first wild card berth. Colorado has a game in hand.
The Colorado Avalanche are coming off a 2-1 loss to the New Jersey Devils at home. Dallas is coming into their second game of a back-to-back. They played last night against fellow Central Division rivals, the Chicago Blackhawks.
How to Enjoy the Game
Game time: December 3 , 6:00 pm MT
TV Networks: Altitude TV (Avs feed), FS-SW (Devils feed)
Radio: Altitude Radio (AM 950)
Tough December
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The Colorado Avalanche have had a weird schedule. They’ve already played six back-to-back series, including the one in Sweden. Those back-to-backs have been punctuated with breaks of three or four days. While that gave them some good rest between those hard match ups, it hasn’t allowed them to get into much of a rhythm.
Colorado only has one back-to-back this month when they head to the East Coast to face first the Pittsburgh Penguins then the Washington Capitals. However, starting with Friday’s game against the New Jersey Devils, Colorado is playing a game every other or every two days for the majority of the month. The only three-day break comes over the Christmas holidays.
Such a schedule is great for getting into the rhythm. However, it can wear players out. Indeed, according to coach Jared Bednar, the focus throughout December is going to balance rest with hard work.
Managing the 1st Period
A key to tonight’s game for the Colorado Avalanche is going to be managing the first period. There have been several times this season that the team has come out flat, and it’s cost them. The latest was the game against the New Jersey Devils.
Winger Blake Comeau identified the first period as a problem in that loss:
"“I think in the first, we gave them too much respect and time and space to make plays. After the first, we got better at that.”"
Hockey is a 60-minute sport. The Avalanche have been getting themselves into trouble by not playing a full 60 for years now. Previously, they were all over the board of which part of the game they’d blow. However, this season it’s pretty consistently been a slow start that gets them down.
Well, the Colorado’s new identity includes being the hardest working team on the ice. You can’t claim that if you’re getting a sleepy start to games.
What’s more, the Colorado Avalanche are the team that’s playing at home and coming into the game rested. In some home games they’ve seemed to use that as an excuse against putting pressure on their opponent. They can’t do that tonight — the Dallas Stars are just as run-and-gun as they are.
Next: Character Wins Best for the Youth
The two teams will have just one more meeting, on January 13 in Dallas.