In one of the first round’s most entertaining series, the Colorado Avalanche find themselves tied 2-2 with the Dallas Stars, heading back on the road for Game 5 after their 4-0 win on Saturday night. Related: 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs Round 1 Hub The momentum had shifted in the Stars’ favor after winning two consecutive games in overtime, but the Avalanche wrested back some control by significantly outplaying Dallas at home. They out-shot the Stars 48-23 in all situations and by a 44-16 margin at 5-on-5, the latter of which was buoyed by a dominant second period in which the Avalanche accumulated 22 shots to Dallas’ five. With the series now tied, let’s dive into three keys to the Avalanche coming back and winning the series after being down 2-1 prior to Game 4. Key No. 1: Better Execution on the Power Play Over the course of an 82-game regular season, teams can find ways to overcome poor execution on the power play or on the penalty kill, especially if there is good reason to believe that positive regression is in the cards. The margins become much thinner in the playoffs, and few teams can survive trotting out special teams units that are ice-cold or leaky. The Avalanche entered the playoffs with a 24.8% conversion rate on the power play (eighth in the NHL) and a belief that a top unit anchored around Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar (fourth and sixth in power-play points, respectively, since 2022-23) would deliver in high-pressure moments. That belief has not manifested into reality, as the Avalanche failed to cash in on the man advantage with any regularity prior to Game 4, where they scored on their one and only opportunity. The most notable misses came in the third periods of both Games 2 and 3 when the Stars took penalties that extended into overtime. Both times, Colorado failed to convert, and both times, the Stars came back to win in sudden death. Through four games, the Avalanche power play has only scored on three of 14 opportunities (21.4%), ranking 11th out of 16 playoff teams. It’s no stretch to suggest scoring at the end of regulation in both Games 2 and 3 would have significantly tilted the momentum in the series (or put the Avalanche in a position to sweep), and it should be a focus going forward. Key No. 2: Do a Better Job of Defending Leads While Games 1 (5-1 win) and 4 (4-0 win) were both blowouts in the Avalanche’s favor, Games 2 and 3 were much tighter. The Stars won both games in overtime and could have put Colorado on the ropes heading into Game 5 at home. The frustrating reality is that the series could have just as easily been a sweep by the Avalanche, but an inability to defend third-period leads has eliminated any advantage they had against a Stars team without the services of both defenseman Miro Heiskanen and their leading scorer in Jason Robertson. In both of the Avalanche losses, the Stars tied the game with less than 11 minutes left in the third and took that momentum into overtime. The shot count in the third period between Games 2 and 3 was 20-17 in favour of the Avalanche, but they could not parlay the shot advantage or late power-play chances into wins. You may also like: Fortunately for the Avalanche, Game 4 showed that they had the ability to shut things down when needed. Despite the impact of score effects or score sequencing, head coach Jared Bednar was able to get his charges to suppress any chance of a Dallas comeback. After a tight first period in which the Avalanche held a slim advantage in the shot margin (12-11) but also a 2-0 lead, Colorado out-shot the Stars 36-12 over the final two periods and had a 14-7 advantage in high-danger chances. Given that the Avalanche lost the high-danger chance battle by a count of 34-17 over the first two games, the tightening up in Games 3 (16-10) and 4 is a good sign for the final two or three games in the series. Key No. 3: Increase Landeskog’s Usage After nearly three years, Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog made his return to the NHL in Game 3 of the series and played 13:16 minutes without registering a shot. The Swedish forward’s presence could not push the Avalanche over the line, but it was clear that despite some rust, the 32-year-old can still make an impact and serve as a massive inspiration for his teammates. Gabriel Landeskog of the Colorado Avalanche celebrates after scoring a goal in the second period of Game Four of the First Round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Dallas Stars (Ashley Potts/NHLI via Getty Images) Landeskog looked even better in Game 4, where he played 14:37 minutes in all situations and tallied two points, including his first NHL goal of any kind since June 6, 2022. The Avalanche have out-shot the Stars 21-3 and created five high-danger chances to Dallas’ one with Landeskog on the ice at 5-on-5. His physicality and tenaciousness along the boards did not evaporate during his extended absence, and the Stars are clearly struggling to figure out how to neutralize the captain. There is some worry that pushing Landeskog too much too soon could lead to another injury, but the Avalanche would not allow him to play if there was a high risk to his health. If he’s healthy enough to play in the postseason, they might as well throw all the ice time at him that he can handle. He’s added a different and badly needed dimension to the Avalanche’s forward group. Avalanche Can Win the Series Despite losing two close games earlier in the series, the Avalanche showed that they are on par with the Stars at the very least with a dominant showing in Game 4. They will not have home-ice advantage if the series goes to a seventh game, but they have already proved they can win on the road. The series has been everything that was promised and more, but a winner has yet to be crowned. Data courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and the NHL.