At last the time has come, round one of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs between the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars. All of the animosity, the tension, all boils down to game one where rivalries are renewed and familiar friends turn into brand new foes. The game got under way and the electricity could be felt all throughout the arena, and the Dallas crowd was rocking even before the puck could be dropped.

Early on in the first period, afer a scramble for the puck in the corner, Cale Makar draws a tripping penalty on Mason Marchment, sending Marchment to the box and getting the Avs their first powerplay of the game. Just as the powerplay was getting going, Makar had the puck at the point and made a move towards the boards and was tripped up again, this time by Wyatt Johnston. Just like that, Colorado was on a 5-on-3 powerplay for a minute and a half, but the Stars did a great job at weathering the storm and managed to kill off both penalties unscathed. A little later in the period, the physicality was abundant at both ends of the ice, but Josh Manson got too tied up in the corner and was called for holding against Dallas, and the Avs were forced to head to the penalty kill themselves for the first time in these playoffs. Thankfully for Avs faithful, Colorado killed off the penalty thanks in part to Mackenzie Blackwood and his incredible sequence of desperation saves to keep the puck out of the net.

After the first 20 minutes, neither team managed to score, but the second period was ramping up to what would be an absolute dogfight. Just under 10 minutes into the game the Avs were on a rush looking to create a chance, and Artturi Lehkonen fired the puck on net that recoiled right back to his feet. Lehkonen tried to recover but was spun around and knocked down, but the puck managed to be inadvertently kicked up into the air that somehow made its way past Jake Oettinger’s shoulder and into the back of the net.

Artturi Lehkonen’s playoff magic has been activated 🪄#GoAvsGo | #BuiltDifferent pic.twitter.com/8Er7hPYWdu

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 20, 2025

Because of the apparent kicking motion from Lehkonen, the goal went under review to determine if it was intentional and could be called back. Although after a short viewing by the officials, it was determined there was NO intent on kicking the puck and the goal would stand givnig the Avs a 1-0 lead.

Later in the period, Dallas would fin themselves in penalty trouble yet again, as after a play had stopped and Nathan Mackinnon had appeared to be bleeding from the nose, the officials once again went to video replay and noticed that Roope Hints had caught Mackinnon up top with a high stick which then led to the bloody nose. Because of this, Hintz was sent to the box four a double-minor, giving the Avs a four minute powerplay to build off their earlier goal. Colorado began to work the puck around the Dallas zone, and the puck found it’s way onto Nathan Mackinnon’s stick, and from being wacked in the face to getting his nose plugged up to stop the bleeding, he sent a soft shot to the net that deflected off of Dallas’ Ilya Lyubushkin and snuck past Oettinger on the far side.

The Dogg doing what the Dogg does.#GoAvsGo | #BuiltDifferent pic.twitter.com/DviPhcES2G

— x – Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) April 20, 2025

Colorado had now taken a two goal lead heading into second intermission, and the atmosphere in the crowd in Dallas had almost become sucked out of the building. The third period would begin and both teams once again got off to a fast and physical start.

Under 10 minutes would remain in the game, and Dallas was still without a goal, but after Colorado had drawn a penalty for delay of game, Dallas had another chance to claw back into it. The Dallas powerplay was winding down and seemed to be another opportunity wasted, but in the final few seconds a shot from the point was redirected in front by Roops Hintz and beat Mackenzie Blackwood to make it a 2-1 game. The man who costed his team a goal by taking a penalty in the second period, made up for it here with time now against the Stars, but with only a goal separating these two, the crowd came back to life.

Blackwood remained well composed for the Avs after giving up the first goal, and continued to keep his team in front by denying Dallas from cashing in on many high danger chances down the stretch. With just over seven minutes left to play, after Dallas had failed to enter into the Colorado zone, the play turned the other way and Josh Manson had the puck at the point and looked to be primed to shoot, but instead fed the puck along the ice to the back post where fellow defenseman linemate Devon Toews would be waiting to tap in the one touch opportunity and give the Avs their two goal lead right back.

Moving ahead to the very late stages, just over three minutes to go, Oettinger to the bench for Dallas, net empty and the extra attacker on. This was the point in the game for Dallas to see if they would sink or swim, either they would score again and bring the game back to within one, or Colorado would take advantage of the empty net and put the nail in Dallas’ coffin. After a hard scramble for control in the Colorado zone, the Stars lost the puck and Logan O’Connor would outlet the puck up ice to a leaking Nathan Mackinnon, who would send a shot right into the middle of the net and put Colorado up three goals, making it a 4-1 cushion. Coming right back to the faceoff at center following the goal, the puck would be immediately worked back into the Dallas zone, and after the Stars failed to clear the puck out, a shot from the point bounced off Oettinger and Logan O’Connor would swoop in to bury the rebound past him, giving O’Connor his second point, and the Avs their second goal in only 10 seconds. Just like that the game would be put well out of reach, and the expiring clock would seal the deal as Colorado would come away from game one with the 5-1 victory.

After the game, a reporter caught up with Mackinnon after the game to get his thoughts on the performance from the team following their win. “It’s playoffs, we need everyone going, whether it’s scoring or making an impact, and i thought everybody made an impact.” said Mackinnon, and just like that the Avs had at worst, split the first two games on the road in this series, and wer ein many high hopes heading into game two. Aside from Mackinnon doing his thing on the offensive side, much praise was given by everyone to Mackenzie Blackwood, who other than stopping 23 of 24 shots faced, put on an outstanding showing of his talent in his very first playoff appearance. The main question mark surrounding this Avs team coming into the playoffs was simply their lack of goalie experience in the postseason, sure Blackwood had a great regular season since coming over from San Jose in the middle of the year, but everything changes once the playoffs begin and there were certainly still doubts on how well he could do once the stakes were raised. I’m sure it’s safe to say now that Blackwood is entirely built for the moments where the lights are brightest, and will continue to be heavily relied upon throught the rest of this series and beyond.

Game two is slated for Monday night in Dallas, and Colorado will hope to put Dallas against the wall early by taking a 2-0 lead in the series, while the Stars will hope to battle back to an even series before flying out to Colorado for games three and four.

Winner: Colorado Avalanche

Loser: Dallas Stars

COL leads series 1-0

STARS OF THE GAME:

N. Mackinnon: 2G, 1A, 2+/-, 20:10 TOI (Time On Ice)

M. Blackwood: 23SV, 1GA, .958SV%

L. O’Connor: 2A, 2+/-, 13:52 TOI