Stars vs. Avalanche Betting Odds, Player Props and Picks for April 23
Joe Tansey
Apr 23, 2025
Thirteen goals were scored in the first two games of the Western Conference first-round series between the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars.
The high scoring from Games 1 and 2 was a continuation of the regular-season series in which the teams combined for 24 goals over three games.
Nathan MacKinnon’s been the most active offensive presence in the series. He has to be the primary focus of any betting angle for Game 3 at Ball Arena.
Nathan MacKinnon Over 3.5 Shots On Goal (-168)
Nathan MacKinnon leads the Avalanche-Stars series with 11 shots on goal.
MacKinnon ripped seven shots on target in Game 1 and followed that up with four attempts on goal in Game 2.
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Colorado’s top offensive player went over 3.5 SOGs twice in three regular-season meetings with Dallas as well.
A year ago, MacKinnon had at least three shots on goal in five home playoff games.
Esa Lindell Over 2.5 Blocks(-142)
Esa Lindell blocked nine shots in Games 1 and 2.
The 30-year-old Finn played the second-most shifts among Dallas defensemen in both games in Dallas.
He’ll be on the ice at a high rate again in Game 3, and with the way Colorado rips the puck on toward goal, Lindell will have plenty of opportunities to block shots.
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Dallas defenseman blocked 26 shots from Colorado so far in the series. Stars forwards had 15 blocks on home ice.
The sheer volume of shots from the Colorado offense sets up for another night full of blocking shots in front of Jake Oettinger for not just Lindell, but the entire Dallas defense.
Over 6.5 (-105)
The Colorado-Dallas matchup breeds goals.
Six goals were scored in Game 1 and seven more shots found the back of the net in Game 2.
Both teams scored at least three goals in the three regular-season meetings, which ended 5-3, 6-3 and 4-3.
Brock Nelson Traded to Avalanche from Islanders for Package Including 1st-Round Pick
Adam Wells
Mar 7, 2025
The Colorado Avalanche are strengthening their roster for a big playoff push by acquiring Brock Nelson from the New York Islanders.
Colorado announced on Thursday night that it acquired Nelson and William Dufour from the Islanders for a package that includes a 2026 first-round draft pick, conditional 2028 third-round pick, Oliver Kylington and Calum Ritchie.
The Avs are clearly not messing around as they look to avoid a postseason disappointment for the third consecutive year.
After winning the Stanley Cup during the 2021-22 season, Colorado's continued success in the regular season hasn't translated into the playoffs. The team's hopes for a repeat ended with a first-round loss to the Seattle Kraken in 2023.
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The Avalanche followed that up by losing to the Dallas Stars in the second round last year. They are one of only two teams in the Western Conference that has posted at least 100 points in the regular season in each of the previous three seasons, along with the Edmonton Oilers.
Colorado has a chance to extend that streak to four this season. It's sitting at 76 points with 19 games remaining.
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Even if the Avalanche fall short of hitting triple-digit points again, they are in a good position to make the postseason for the eighth consecutive year. They enter Friday with an eight point lead over the Calgary Flames for the top wild card spot in the West.
Adding Nelson, who has 43 points in 61 games this season, for the stretch run further strengthens an already-good offense. He will also fill the void left in Colorado's lineup after Mikko Rantanen was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes on Jan. 24.
The Islanders have an outside shot at making the playoffs with 63 points, four behind the Ottawa Senators for the final wild card slot in the Eastern Conference. But they are 13th in the overall conference standings, so accruing draft assets to help their long-term future is the right move for an organization that's taken a step back after back-to-back playoff appearances in 2022-23 and 2023-24.
Avalanche GM: 'Tough Business Decision' to Trade Mikko Rantanen in NHL Blockbuster
Jan 25, 2025
DENVER, COLORADO - JANUARY 20: Mikko Rantanen #96 of the Colorado Avalanche plays the Minnesota Wild in the third period at Ball Arena on January 20, 2025 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
Colorado Avalanche general manager Chris MacFarland said it was a "tough business decision" to trade star winger Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes in the final year of his contract.
"It's a bittersweet day," MacFarland told reporters Saturday (h/t DNVR Avalanche.) "Mikko is a decorated player for us. He's an elite winger in this league. So, it was a tough few days, but we just felt the timing was right, and when the last few days it kind of came together— we decided to act yesterday, but it wasn't without a lot of serious thought, I can assure you of that."
MacFarland continued: "It was just a tough business decision here for us, and we just felt the pieces we got, it made sense to strike now."
The Avalanche acquired former Hurricanes forwards Jack Drury and Martin Nečas, along with a 2025 second-rounder and 2026 fourth-rounder, in a three-team trade on Friday that also involved the Chicago Blackhawks.
Rantanen, who had played parts of 10 seasons with the Avalanche, was a key part of the team's run to the 2022 Stanley Cup as a formidable offensive duo with Nathan MacKinnon.
He is coming off of back-to-back 40-goal, 100-point seasons, and at the time of the trade ranked sixth in the NHL with 64 points in 49 games.
But Rantanen is also playing in the final year of the six-year, $9.25 million AAV contract he signed with the Avs ahead of the 2019-20 season.
According to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski, Rantanen was seeking an extension "in the neighborhood" of the eight-year, $14 million AAV deal Leon Draisaitl inked with the Edmonton Oilers last September.
Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman wrote after the trade that Draisaitl's deal "altered the negotiations" between the Avs and Rantanen.
According to Friedman, the Avalanche "just weren't willing to go in that area" in part because of their commitments to MacKinnon and Cale Makar. MacKinnon is signed through the 2030-31 season at a $12.6 million AAV. Cale Makar is locked in at $9 million per year for two more seasons, but will need a raise by 2027-28.
Rantanen is represented by the same agent as Draisaitl. Falling short of his camp's expectations could have meant the Avs risked losing him for nothing in free agency this summer.
Instead, the Avs will take on Hall's expiring deal alongside a pair of two-year contracts with Nečas ($6.5 million AAV) and Drury ($1.725 million AAV) in exchange for parting with Rantanen.
"Mikko earned the right to be an unrestricted free agent, and he's five months away from that," MacFarland told reporters. "You've got to make these hard decisions, the player has to make them, and the club has to make them. And that's what we did."
"And getting two cost-controlled assets was important. We felt we got a top-six guy, and a good bottom-six guy, and away we go."
The Hurricanes, on the other hand, are apparently hoping to convince Rantanen to sign his next deal in Carolina.
Hurricanes general manager Eric Tulsky described the team's extension talks with Rantanen on Saturday as "more of a recruiting pitch than a negotiation," according to ESPN's Greg Wyshynski.
"If he gets to free agency, I'm sure there will be teams that will pay him a lot of money, and so our job in the next weeks and months is to make it so he wants to be here," Tulsky said, per Wyshynski. "He has the right as a free agent to decide where to sign and it may not come down to the money for him.
"It may come down to where he wants to be. So our goal is to make him want to be here and then offer enough money that he doesn't have to think twice about it."
Meanwhile, MacFarland indicated the Avalanche may not be done making trades ahead of the March 7 trade deadline.
"There's a little more bullets in the draft pick cupboards, and some cap space... we'll continue to look, and if something makes sense, then we'll certainly strike," MacFarland said.
The Avs saved just over $1 million in cap space with the trade, PuckPedia reports. The team has about $5.6 million remaining in LTIR space, although that number will decrease when Avalanche winger Miles Wood returns from the back injury that has sidelined him since November, per PuckPedia.
Avalanche's Nathan MacKinnon Wins 2023-24 NHL Hart Trophy; Also Won Ted Lindsay Award
Jun 28, 2024
DENVER, COLORADO - MAY 17: Nathan MacKinnon #29 of the Colorado Avalanche skates against the Dallas Stars in Game Six of the Second Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Ball Arena on May 17, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)
Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon has been awarded the 2023-24 Hart Memorial Trophy as the player "most valuable to his team."
The honor, as voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers' Association, was announced Thursday during the annual NHL awards.
Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov and Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid finished as runners up.
MacKinnon played all 82 contests for the Avalanche and recorded at least one point in an NHL-best 69 games.
He is the second Colorado player since Joe Sakic (2000-01) to score more than 50 goals in a single season.
MacKinnon finished the season with 54 goals in large part due to his speed. He skated in bursts of more than 20 miles per hour 52 times during the regular season, putting him in the 99th percentile of all skaters, according to NHL Edge.
MacKinnon began the season with a 35-game home point streak, second only to Wayne Gretzky's 1988-89 campaign with the Los Angeles Kings for the longest stretch in NHL history.
During that span, Colorado led the NHL with 28 home wins.
The Avalanche finished the regular season with a league-best 31-9-1 record at Ball Arena on their way to clinching a playoff spot for the seventh consecutive season.
MacKinnon is also the first player in NHL history to record two separate 19-game point streaks in the same regular season.
His 140 total points set a franchise record and paced winger Mikko Rantanen for the team production lead by 36 points.
The first overall pick of the 2023 NHL draft, MacKinnon has played 11 seasons for the Avalanche. His 791 regular-season games rank fifth in franchise history.
This is the first Hart Trophy of MacKinnon's career. He has finished as a finalist three times prior.
He follows Joe Sakic (2000-01) and Peter Forsberg (2002-03) as the franchise's third player to earn the honor.
Avalanche Win Game 5 vs. Stars to Extend Series as Cale Makar Electrifies NHL Fans
May 16, 2024
DALLAS, TEXAS - MAY 15: Cale Makar #8 of the Colorado Avalanche celebrates a goal against the Dallas Stars with teammates on the bench during the third period in Game Five of the Second Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center on May 15, 2024 in Dallas, Texas. (Photo by Sam Hodde/Getty Images)
The Colorado Avalanche were able to keep their season alive with a 5-3 win over the Dallas Stars in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals on Wednesday night.
After both teams traded one goal each in the first and second periods, the Avs broke the game open by scoring three times in the third.
Cale Makar, who was held without a point in each of the past three games, got back on track with two goals. This was just the second multi-goal game of his postseason career. The first came in Game 2 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Makar's first goal came on a power play in the second period to tie the score at two.
After Casey Mittelstadt put the Avalanche back on top early in the third period, Makar gave them some insurance with an unassisted goal that snuck right through the legs of Stars goalie Jake Oettinger.
It's not a coincidence the Avs are 5-1 in these playoffs when Makar has at least one point and 0-3 when he does not. They had the best offense in the league during the regular season on the strength of Makar, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.
That trio combined for 334 points, with Makar ranking second among all defenseman in that category. His passing is one of the key driving forces behind what makes Colorado so successful.
Wednesday night saw Makar have to take matters into his own hands. It paid off great for the Avs, who also got goals MacKinnon and Artturi Lehkonen.
The final result is the Avalanche will have at least one more game this season. They will host the Stars in Game 6 on Friday hoping to send the series back to Dallas for a winner-take-all showdown on Sunday.
Stars Win Game 4 vs. MacKinnon, Avalanche as NHL Fans Praise Wyatt Johnston's 2 Goals
May 14, 2024
DENVER, COLORADO - MAY 13: Wyatt Johnston #53 of the Dallas Stars skates against Miles Wood #28 of the Colorado Avalanche during the first period in Game Four of the Second Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Ball Arena on May 13, 2024 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
The Dallas Stars have a comfortable 3-1 lead over the Colorado Avalanche after a 5-1 win Monday night.
After dropping the first game of the series, the Stars have bounced back to win three straight games and now have the chance to close out the series on Wednesday.
Center Wyatt Johnston was the story for Dallas Monday night as the second-year player notched a pair of goals in the win. The big performance came just hours before his 21st birthday.
His first goal came in the first period after a wrist shot gave the Stars an early 1-0 lead. He added another goal in the second period on a snap shot.
Dallas managed to take a comfortable 3-0 lead later in the second on a goal from Miro Heiskanen, but the Avalanche quickly answered back on a goal from Casey Mittelstadt.
The Stars put the game away in the final period after goals from Evgenii Dadonov and Sam Steel.
After the win, fans praised Johnston for helping the Stars gain a comfortable lead in the series.
The only two players in NHL history with a short handed goal and a power play goal in the same playoff game before they turned 21:
The Stars are now in full control of the series and have the chance to advance to the conference finals for a second consecutive season on Wednesday with a win.
The Avalanche have a lot of work to do to overcome the 3-1 deficit, but it will start with a strong performance in Game 5. Colorado will be without a key player in Valeri Nichushkin, who was suspended for at least six months ahead of Game 4.
After winning three straight, Dallas has all the momentum. Now the Stars are looking to close things out.
