The Stanley Cup playoffs have yet to begin and the Dallas Stars already have suffered a huge loss.
On the eve of hosting the Colorado Avalanche for Game 1 of the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series Saturday, Stars coach Pete DeBoer announced top goal-scorer Jason Robertson would be out of action on a week-to-week basis after suffering a lower-body injury in the regular-season finale.
“Next man up. It’s this time of year,” DeBoer said. “We’re not going to be the only team either starting without somebody or losing someone at some point. That’s playoffs. You’ve just got to keep moving forward.”
Robertson’s injury is a tough blow for a Dallas squad that is also without top defenseman Miro Heiskanen. The Stars finished second in the Central Division, four points ahead of Colorado, but struggled down the stretch and went winless in its final seven games (0-5-2).
Somehow, they must find a way to turn their fortunes against a Colorado squad that gained momentum since mid-February.
“We’re going to have to,” said forward Tyler Seguin, who returned for the finale after requiring hip surgery in December. “We’ve seen teams do it and we’re going to do it.”
Dallas beat Colorado in six games in the second round last season.
Adding an extra layer to the series is Mikko Rantanen, whom Colorado traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in January when he and the team could not come to terms on a contract extension. Just before the trade deadline, Rantanen was flipped to Dallas and signed an eight-year deal.
“I have a lot of friends off the ice from that team, but I think when the whistle goes on the ice for Game 1, I think then it’s business and we try to beat each other,” Rantanen said. “Business is how I would look at it. Everybody wants to win.”
The Avalanche retooled their roster throughout the season. On top of the Rantanen deal, which brought forwards Martin Necas and Jack Drury into the fold, the Avalanche swapped goaltenders to their current tandem of Mackenzie Blackwood and Scott Wedgewood, and added defensemen Erik Johnson and Ryan Lindgren and veteran forwards Charlie Coyle and Brock Nelson.
“It wasn’t by design,” general manager Chris MacFarland said. “We weren’t sitting there in October going, âYou know, we’re going to have to change the goaltending,’ or anything like that. I think it’s just one of those years where things just sort of fell into that sort of track.”
In addition, captain Gabriel Landeskog is due to return after missing nearly three full seasons due to knee surgeries. Landeskog, who last played in the NHL when the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup in 2022, skated in a pair of AHL games to tune up.
“It’s exciting for us, because it may give us another option here,” coach Jared Bednar said. “To have another player of his caliber possibly being ready to go is only a positive from my mind.”
And now the Avalanche must try to win a Cup without Rantanen, who is among the franchise’s top scorers since it relocated from Quebec City and was a key part of their championship three years ago.
“I’m just really, really focused on this team,” forward Nathan MacKinnon said. “I’ve played against friends before. It is what it is.”
