As was mentioned several times over the past couple of days, it appears that the Colorado Avalanche will meet up with the Dallas Stars in the first round of the 2024-25 NHL postseason. That matchup against the Stars would be a good series. If Colorado won the first-round series, then they would move on to face whoever comes out victorious between the Winnipeg Jets and Vancouver Canucks. I fully expect the Jets to cruise right into the second round with ease.
On one hand, playoff games against the Jets are very fun to watch. Surprisingly, that matchup has only happened once. On the other hand, wouldn’t you just love to get to face two former Avalanche players in Mikko Rantanen and Matt Duchene? I know I would. Putting aside your stance on who was in the wrong regarding the Rantanen-Colorado contract situation, just having to watch a player who played for Colorado for many years is a gross feeling. However, we got a dose of that on Sunday afternoon.
In his return to Ball Arena, Rantanen ended up playing the third-least amount of minutes of any game this season. I’m sure that if he had it his way, he would have played more than 20 minutes. His time ended up being 17:15. He had two shots and one assist in 22 shifts.
Even though Rantanen chose to go to a division rival after his short tenure with the Hurricanes, we can’t forget his time in Colorado. It was truly an awesome experience getting to see him play well with Nathan MacKinnon. That being said, the postseason is a ways away, though not far from now. This extra time will allow Rantanen to get more accustomed to the Stars’ way. By no means am I too concerned about him making a matchup vs the Avs a one-man wrecking crew, but that extra time could be very important for him later down the road.
Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger is currently on a cold streak, having a save percentage below .900 in his last three starts That’s the Oettinger we’d love to see in that first round, but would welcome a challenge. If they defeated a hot Oettinger, the Avalanche’s confidence would rise heading into a series vs Connor Hellebuyck.
Now, I’m truly not just saying this as a fan of the Avalanche, but right now, I would be terrified to face Colorado in the playoffs. They have gone 8-1-1 in their last 10 games. That’s what I would call “red hot.” Sure, there are some things they could work on, such as consistent power play success, but there aren’t a ton of things that are glaring to me. As long as we have Mackenzie Blackwood or Scott Wedgewood between the pipes, we’re as good as gold.
Colorado is 2-1 against Dallas this season, including Sunday’s nail-biting finish that saw them beat the Stars on their first shot in overtime. This is the type of hockey that gets people on their feet.
For now, the Avalanche have 14 games remaining. Their next game is against the Maple Leafs on Wednesday in Toronto.