Game 1 date and start time for Colorado Avalanche is set

The Colorado Avalanche knew the who and where of their first-round matchup — against the Dallas Stars inside the American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas.

Now they know the when — at least for Game 1.

The NHL announced Wednesday night that the Avalanche will open their series with the Dallas Stars on Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. MDT. The game will be broadcast nationally on TNT, truTV and Max and locally on Altitude Sports.

Unlike the NBA, the NHL announces its postseason games in a piecemeal fashion. Thus, the league announced only two postseason games in the news release it distributed Wednesday evening — Avalanche-Stars and Game 1 of the St. Louis Blues-Winnipeg Jets series.

“The complete First Round schedule will be announced when available,” the release said.

The duel is a rematch of last year’s second-round clash, won four games to two by the Stars. Of course, the end last May came in particularly crushing fashion — a season-ending, double-overtime defeat at Ball Arena.

Whether the Avs have Gabriel Landeskog available for his first NHL action since the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals remains up in the air — at least publicly — as general manager Chris MacFarland declined Wednesday to share whether the longtime captain would be available for the series.