Avs and Stars kick off the second round of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs

Saturday night, the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs kick off with the first game between the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars. Which of these teams can get a spot in the Western Conference Finals by winning this best-of-seven series?

Colorado Avalanche: two blowout wins in a row

Before the Stanley Cup Play-offs, the Colorado Avalanche were seen by the bookies as one of the contenders for winning the Stanley Cup, but after finishing the first round, they were even bombed as second favorite behind the Vegas Golden Knights. Both Colorado and Vegas impressed during the round robin games, which were played to determine seeding in the first round of play-offs, and maintained their great form during their first-round series.

In the first round, Colorado took on the Arizona Coyotes. The Avs would eventually win this series in five games, but a 4-0 sweep was possible. Head coach Jared Bednar and his player only suffered one defeat, after Arizona's goalie Darcy Kuemper excelled with 49 saves in Game 3. The Avs bounced back in an impressive way, as Arizona was eventually eliminated thanks to two consecutive 7-1 blowout wins. Players like Nathan MacKinnon, Nazem Kadri and Mikko Rantanen continued their good form from the regular season.

Arizona Coyotes: elimanted the Calgary Flames

This year's Stanley Cup playoffs are memorable for several reasons. Mainly because of the brand new qualifying round and the many surprises that took place. Also in the first round of the actual playoffs upsets could not fail to occur. The Dallas Stars faced the Calgary Flames in their first round-series and were considered equal in advance. The Stars managed to reach the second round thanks to a 4-2 win in the series, but they weren't as convincing as Colorado and Vegas, for example.

Dallas started the series against Calgary with a 3-2 loss and needed an overtime win in Game 4 to level the series (2-2). The last game, game 6, was memorable. The Stars were facing a 3-0 deficit in this game after more than six minutes of play, but then scored seven unanswered goals of their own to eliminate Calgary and push through to the second round of the Western Conference play-offs. Head coach Rick Bowness will be satisfied with the many goals scored in the last game against Calgary, but he knows that they will face a higher level opponent with the Avs.

Colorado in regulation

Both teams were able to score seven times in their most recent game and therefore the over looks like the obvious play, but both teams have good defenses. The Avs are playing dominant hockey and are scoring for fun, but also have things worked out in their own end. The Dallas Stars usually rely on a very strong defence, but the Flames managed to score against them many times in the first round-series. With the way Colorado's playing I don't expect Dallas to be able to hold off Colorado from scoring and that's why I'm playing the Avs in regulation.