Stars and Avs in playoff-opening series of Cup favorites that has Mikko Rantanen on a different side

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Mikko Rantanen was at ease Friday when talking about the excitement of starting the playoffs, which the standout forward experienced with the Colorado Avalanche each of the past seven seasons that included a Stanley Cup title. Except this time Rantanen will be on the other side with Dallas, in a first-round Western Conference series against the Avalanche that starts Saturday night. Colorado traded Rantanen on Jan. 24 to Carolina in the East, where he played only 13 games. A deadline deal March 7 sent him back to the Central Division with the Stars and included a $96 million, eight-year contract extension. "It's Dallas against Colorado and I'm part of Dallas. So that's that's how I look at it," Rantanen said. So can it really be that simple for the 28-year-old forward? "Yeah, I guess we'll see," he said. "But, you know, it's business and like I said, the trade didn't happen two days ago. ... It's been a while now since I haven't played with the Avs anymore. What is it, three months almost, so I think it's all behind us now, and now it's just part of a new team." Rantanen was picked 10th overall by Colorado in the 2015 draft and was three weeks shy of his 19th birthday when he made his NHL debut later that year. He scored 705 points in 652 regular-season games for the Avs, plus 100 points in 82 playoff games, before they traded him in the final season of his contract. "It's going to be different. but that's his new home, and it's going to be his new home for eight years," Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "That's the life of pro hockey sometimes in the business side of it. So he's going to be a big factor in this series. Again, it's not just one player and one line." Martin Necas, who came from Carolina in the first Rantanen trade, has taken full advantage of spending time on the same Colorado line as Nathan MacKinnon, the league's reigning MVP. Necas, one of the rare skaters quick enough to keep pace with the fast-flying MacKinnon, has 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists) in his 30 games. Rantanen has five goals and 13 assists in 20 games with the Stars. He had 64 points (25 goals, 39 assists) in 49 games for Colorado this season, when he had 88 points (32 goals, 56 assists) in 82 games overall for his three teams. Opening struggles The Stars have lost Game 1 in their past seven playoffs series, including all six while making it to the Western Conference Final each of the past two seasons when five of those openers were at home. "There's a real history there of starting slowly, and we've lived that," coach Pete DeBoer said. "I don't think we can hang that on this group. ... New people, new year." Well, this group finished the regular season 0-5-2 during a stretch with the Stars already locked into their playoff spot and matchup against the Avs. "The last 2 1/2 weeks, we've been looking forward to this, and I think that that was reflected in our play for a lot of it," DeBoer said. "This is what you play for." Injured Stars The Stars will be without top goal scorer Jason Robertson because of a lower-body injury suffered in their last regular-season game Wednesday. DeBoer on Friday described Robertson, who has 35 goals and 45 assists, as week-to-week. Dallas is also without standout defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who missed the last 32 regular-season games and hasn't returned to practice since after injuring is left knee against Vegas on Jan. 28. Captain Gabe Longtime Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog might be on the cusp of making his return to the NHL for the first time since helping them hoist the Stanley Cup in late June 2022. Landeskog has been out with a knee injury that has led to a couple of surgeries and caused him to miss the past three regular seasons. The 32-year-old Landeskog last weekend finished a two-game stint with the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League as part of a conditioning assignment. "He's close. He's close. He's getting close," Bednar said Friday. "Obviously, every day I feel like he getting a little quicker and a little bit more confident, little more sure of himself. He'll be an option for us in this series." Net gains Colorado has quite a tandem in goal thanks to a pair of in-season trades. First, the Avalanche picked up backup goalie Scott Wedgewood in a deal with Nashville on Nov. 30. Wedgewood, who backed up Jake Oettinger in Dallas the past two seasons, is 13-4-1 with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage over 19 games in Colorado. Colorado then made a bold move on Dec. 9, trading starting goaltender Alexandar Georgiev to San Jose for Mackenzie Blackwood. Blackwood since has posted a 22-12-3 mark with a 2.33 GAA and .913 save percentage. Past games The home team won all three meetings during the regular season, the last a 4-3 overtime win by the Avalanche on March 16, when Rantanen played against his former team for the only time. Colorado's only trip to Dallas was Nov. 29, when the Stars won 5-3. The Stars won a six-game series against Colorado in the second round of the playoffs last season.