Colorado Avalanche playing biggest game of season against Dallas Stars

The Colorado Avalanche will be playing the biggest game of their season on Saturday night as they face the Dallas Stars in Game 4 of their opening-round series in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs.

The Avalanche are down 2-1 in the series, but could easily be up 3-0 considering how they played in the back-to-back overtime thrillers.

In Game 2, the Avalanche lost a heartbreaker on Colin Blackwell’s winner. Then, the Avs and Stars played a classic playoff game, with Tyler Seguin ending Game 3, again in overtime, 2-1.

That brings up to Game 4. The Avalanche are facing their biggest challenge of the season as another loss will put them behind the 8-ball, going down 3-1 in the series. A win, however, puts the Avalanche right back into the series, tied at 2-2.

At this point, we could use all sorts of euphemisms to describe what the Avalanche must do in Game 4. But it all boils down to playing desperate hockey. The time for playing things safe is over. Now, the Avalanche are staring down the possibility of seeing their season come down to one more game.

The Avalanche will need their top stars, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, to dial it up offensively. Both stars went scoreless in Game 3. Granted, it was a low-scoring game. But on Saturday night, MacKinnon and Makar will need to be the difference-makers as the Avalanche are virtually down to their final bullet.

Looking at the Colorado Avalanche lineup for Game 4

The Colorado Avalanche will be rolling a lineup similar to the one deployed in Game 3. Let’s look at the forward lines as reported by Evan Rawal:

• Lehkonen – MacKinnon – Necas

• Landeskog – Nelson – Nichushkin

• Drouin – Coyle – Kiviranta

• Kelly – Drury – O’Connor

The biggest change would appear to be captain Gabriel Landeskog moving up to the second line with Brock Nelson. This move looks interesting, particularly with Jonathan Drouin moving to the third line, adding extra punch to the depth scoring.

However, don’t be surprised if Landeskog drops to the third line later in the game as the action gets increasingly intense.

Let’s now check out the defense pairings:

• Toews – Makar

• Lindgren – Manson

• Girard – Malinski

No surprises here. Erik Johnson played the first two games, but the speed with which the series has gone has demanded Sam Malinski to get back into the fold. While Makar and Toews are the main drivers, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Lindgren and Manson play a significant role in the game.

In goal, MacKenzie Blackwood should get the start. He’s been terrific in the playoffs and will hopefully continue to prove he was the right choice for the Avalanche this season.

The Avalanche, overall, will have to play their best game of the season if they are to avoid a 3-1 series deficit. They can do it. It all depends on getting the job done.