Scoreboard	1	2	3	Odds
Dallas Stars 37-24-5-3	0	2	1	+6
Colorado Avalanche 42-20-7-1	5	1	0	-101

Stars vs. Avalanche Game 5 Prediction, Stanley Cup Playoff Odds

The Stars are on the verge of their first Western Conference final since 2008 after picking up a 5-4 win over the Avalanche on Sunday to take a 3-1 lead in the best-of-7 series.

It’s a back-to-back days for Game 5 which is set to go Monday at 9:45 p.m. ET. The Avalanche are listed as slim favourites on the NHL odds at -130 with the Stars coming in at +110. The total has risen to 6 goals with the over favoured at -125.

Stars vs. Avalanche NHL Playoff Odds

The high scoring series has hit the over in all four game so far. The over is also 7-0 in the Avalanche’s last seven games overall and 5-0 in the Stars last five. The Stars have had the Avalanche’s number all series and all season, with Dallas 7-2 in the last nine meetings between these teams.

Some streaks of note that suggest the scoring will continue in Game 5 include Nathan MacKinnon extending his franchise record point streak to begin a post season to 12 games with 21 points (7G, 14A). For Dallas, 20-year-old Miro Heiskanen is now the Dallas Stars/Minnesota North Stars franchise record holder for points by a defensemen in a single post season with 16 (3G, 13A).

Dallas Stars

The Stars continued the series’ streaky scoring trend with goals from John Klinberg, Radek Faska and Jamie Benn giving Dallas a 3-0 ten minutes into the game. Faska finished with one goal and two assists, with the Stars also receiving big contributions from Klinberg and Roope Hintz, who each had a goal and an assist.

Anton Khudobin was strong again in Game 4, with a 33 save performance. Khudobin had actually never made a post season start before this year. The Stars are 10-1 in franchise history when leading a best-of-7 series 3-1 and are one win away from their first Western Conference final since 2008, a series they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings in six games.

The plan in Game 5 for the Stars should be to stay the course. The Colorado offense is lethal, but Dallas is exposing the Avs defensive weaknesses. The Stars have three shots to end this series, the key is to stay calm and continue to play their game. NHL history says that will be enough to win this round.

Colorado Avalanche

The frustration level with his team has to be escalating for coach Jared Bednar. After an embarrassing start in Game 4 that saw the Avalanche trail 3-0 before they recorded a single shot (Nazem Kadri had the first Colorado shot 18:36 into the first period), the Avs actually outshot the Stars 32-19 in the final two periods.

Defensive lapses and goaltending are becoming major issues for the Avalanche in this series. With No. 1 goalie Philipp Grubauer still hurt, Pavel Francouz was pulled in the third period on Sunday after allowing five goals on 26 shots. Michael Hutchinson stopped the three shots he faced in relief.

In NHL history teams up 3-1 in a best-of-7 series are 284-29 (90.7 per cent). If the Avalanche want to dent that high percentage, they’ll need to worry about the defensive zone first in Game 5. The Avs have no issue scoring, it’s preventing the Stars from scoring that is killing them.