What Makes Game 7 Preparation Different For The Avs?

It is the final game of the best-of-seven series between the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars. On Saturday night at American Airlines Center, a victor will move on to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The other, will try to heal from the loss.

The first round between the Central Division rivals began on April 19 in Dallas with a 5-1 win for the Avs. They battled hard to overtime in Games 2 and 3 but ultimately fell to the Stars. Colorado suffered a disappointing Game 5 loss but regrouped to win Game 6 and force a Game 7.

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It’s been a journey, and the team has adjusted after each game to fine-tune or fix issues. What has felt and looked like a Western Conference Final series has arguably been the most intense of the first round. Have the Avs changed anything in their preparation going into Game 7 from how they geared up for Game 1?

“I don’t think there’s any change. We’ve been just trying to go game by game and win as many as we can,” Devon Toews said before heading to Dallas on Friday. “Nobody thought it was going to be easy at any point. They’re a great team over there. It’s hard to win these games, so we have a chance to go to their barn and win one and move on. So that’s where we’re looking forward to.”

“There’s not a lot of difference from the way we prepare our team for every game of the season. When you open game one of your season, you’re trying to prepare your team the best way you know how to win that hockey game, and you find a rhythm with it …” head coach Jared Bednar said. “So when you get to the playoffs, it’s just business as usual — let’s just keep doing what we’re doing, and that’s why you’re developing all those habits, and getting dialed in on the structure of your play, so your team feels confident the way you play. Certainly, it’s ramped up in playoffs.”

The Avs played their best in Game 4 with a 4-0 shutout at Ball Arena. That was the blueprint to beat the Stars. Game 6 was a solid bounce-back from the Game 5 road loss, but the team is not overly concerned with the location of the final matchup.

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“We relish the opportunity to go do something special in someone else’s building. Ever since I’ve been here, we’ve been a really good road team, a really good road team in the playoffs, especially, as well,” Toews said. “We relish those opportunities and the challenge that comes with trying to quiet a fan base down that’s energized and ready to go. So we got to use that and come on to a good start.”

Bednar is focused on his entire team playing their best, as some players have struggled at times through the series and it’s his starting goaltender’s first playoff experience.

“Our team has a ton of confidence in front of him (Mackenzie Blackwood) and in his ability, and no different than any other player. I don’t care what you’ve done to this point in the series, some guys could have been better. Some guys are playing great. Some guys are snakebit, some guys are scoring on the chances they get. It’s going to roll down to what you do tomorrow night and we need a big game out of every single person in that locker room.”