Corey Perry # 10 of the Dallas Stars and Pavel Francouz # 39 of the Colorado Avalanche (Photo by Jeff Vinnick / Getty Images)
With the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs ready to begin, let’s predict who will win each series!
The second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs begins on Saturday, August 22nd. Anyone though this postseason would be wild and chaotic. So far, the playoffs have our high expectations above the. There were crazy finishes, broken records, increased heart rate overtime, and unpredictable upsets.
Each of the series in the second round shows an interesting matchup, most of which can go either way. Only eight teams remain in this unusual postseason. Whoever lifts the Stanley Cup will have deserved it, because this time forced each team to overcome quite a bit of opposition.
So which of those eight teams will survive and advance to the best of seven matchups? We have treated you to our picks for each of the play-in round series.
(2) Colorado Avalanche vs. (3) Dallas Stars
Why Colorado Can Win: The Avalanche have been incredibly dominant in the Stanley Cup Playoffs so far. They have lost just two games – one in the round robin to the Vegas Golden Knights and one to the Arizona Coyotes. In each of those losses, the Avalanche still looked very good.
Colorado is best known for its high-flying offensive line, led by Nathan MacKinnon (13 postseason points), Nazem Kadri (11 points), and Mikko Rantanen (10 points). Andre Burakovsky and team captain Gabriel Landeskog each have 8 points in 8 games.
However, do not sleep on the defense of the Avalanche. They are led by likely Calder Trophy winner Cale Makar, who has a Norris Trophy or two waiting for him in the future. Samuel Girard, Erik Johnson, Ryan Graves, Nikita Zadorov, and Ian Cole run a well-balanced blue line. Philip Grubauer has been a net with a savings percentage of .937%.
Why Dallas Can Win: On the other side of the ice, the Dallas Stars rely on their goalkeeping and defense. Their misdeeds, however, seemed to come alive against the Calgary Flames. Even without novice goalkeeper Ben Bishop, Anton Khudobin gives them an excellent option in net. Miro Heiskanen has scored the most for Dallas, as he is just one point behind MacKinnon for the post-season lead in points.
Joe Pavelski has been phenomenal in the postseason, grabbing 8 points in 9 games. Denis Gurianov had a hat trick in Game 6 against the Flames and is a dangerous player when he is on the ice.
Prediction: Scored in 6.
