Jim Nill could teach Nico Harrison a thing or two about how to make a trade that sends shock waves through the rest of the league without pulling the props out from under your own front porch in the process. Both general managers made blockbuster deadline moves in an attempt to win now. As of Friday night, Nico’s officially a year in arrears.

On the strength of two fluke goals, and then three other ones, the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Stars 5-1 on Saturday night to win Game 1 of their first round Stanley Cup playoff series. Game 2 is Monday night in Dallas.

After finishing up the 82-game NHL regular season earlier in the week, the Colorado Avalanche begin their quest for the Stanley Cup tonight as they take on the Dallas Stars in a first-round matchup. These two teams met three times in the regular season, with Colorado winning two of those games and Dallas winning one.