The Colorado Avalanche came back from behind last time out against the Dallas Stars to force the two best words in sports — folks, we have a Game 7 on our hands.
The stakes can’t get much higher as these two Western Conference contenders fight to advance onward in the 2025 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. With the season on the line, one team’s season will come to an early end with a disappointing first-round exit, while the other moves on for a Conference Semifinals matchup against the winner of the Winnipeg Jets vs. St. Louis Blues series.
With a key injury update on Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen delivered on Friday, here’s the latest odds and outlook for Saturday’s Stars vs. Avalanche Game 7.
Stars vs. Avalanche Game 7 Odds, Outlook
Stars vs. Avalanche Game 7 odds
The Stars play at home Saturday night, but they’re listed as +114 Moneyline underdogs on DraftKings Sportsbook. In comparison, the Avalanche come in as -135 favorites on the Moneyline. The game total is set at 5.5.
As for the 1.5 puck line, the Avalanche hold +190 odds of covering at -1.5, while the Stars are -230 to cover the +1.5 line. Only two games this series have been decided by a one-goal difference — Games 2 and 3, which both went to overtime.
Will Miro Heiskanen play?
The Dallas Stars entered the playoffs shorthanded this season thanks to a couple of major injuries. The biggest of these is star defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who hasn’t played since January 28 against the Las Vegas Golden Knights. During that contest, Heiskanen took a very low hit from Vegas’ Mark Stone — the contact was questionable at best and sparked debate over whether it should have been legal, but regardless of Stone’s intent, Heiskanen suffered an MCL injury which required surgery.
Having missed 38 straight games, the Finn recently rejoined the Stars in practice and traveled with the team on both road trips of this series. There had been some chatter before the playoffs began that Heiskanen might make a return mid-series, however, that options now seems to have changed.
Per head coach Pete DeBoer, Heiskanen has been ruled out for Game 7. A couple of days ago, DeBoer said Heiskanen was nearing a return but still had some progress to make, as well as requiring sign-offs from doctors to play. From the sound of it, he didn’t quite meet those requirements to come back.
Stars vs. Avalanche Game 7 outlook
With Heiskanen still sidelined for this pivotal Game 7, the Stars have their work cut out for them. Missing their top defender, and possibly their best all-around player, has clearly taken a toll on the team throughout his absence. They’ve hung around in plenty of games thanks to a high-powered offense, but their defense is prone to collapse and just hasn’t looked the same on a consistent basis since Heiskanen was injured.
It also doesn’t help that Dallas’ top goalscorer, Jason Robertson, remains out due to a lower-body injury suffered in the final game of the regular season. This first-round matchup between Stanley Cup-caliber teams always had the makings of a seven-game series, but with two of their top players missing, it’s fairly surprising the Stars are even still alive in the playoffs.
Notably, DeBoer’s career coaching record in Game 7s is a perfect 8-0. In front of the home crowd, there’s a solid chance he can make this a perfect 9-0 on Saturday night. It’ll take a valiant effort from the Stars, who must come out swinging from the opening puck drop. If they take too long to settle in, the battle will already be lost against Colorado’s formidable duo of Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.
