If you pepper a goaltender enough, you’ll eventually break through. The Avalanche have been peppering Stars goalie Jake Oettinger with shots the last two games at Ball Arena, and it eventually paid off.

It’s been a different story at American Airlines Center in Dallas.

Saturday’s Game 7 (6 p.m./ABC) between the Avalanche and Stars may just come down to whether Colorado can impose its will on Dallas like they have on home ice. How do they do that away from their home barn?

“The speed of our game, using our skating to our advantage,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said before his team departed for Dallas one last time.

That’s easier said than done for a few reasons.

One, Dallas obviously has a say in things. When they’re playing well, they want no part of a back-and-forth game with the Avalanche. They want to slow things down as much as they possibly can. It’s not a talent issue, as we saw they have the skill to finish off the rush during the second period of Game 6, but their defense isn’t built to consistently transition the puck like Colorado’s.

The second key factor could be the ice, which is never great in Dallas. Both teams must play on it, but let’s call it a spade. Dallas benefits more from bad ice than Colorado. It’s a real factor the Avalanche will have to push through on Saturday to get to their game quicker.

While the Avalanche know they must skate to make Dallas uncomfortable, there are other factors on the road.

“They get the matchups, so it’s a little bit harder,” Avalanche defensman Devon Toews said. “If we put enough pressure on them, we create icings, and we get the matchups that we want, then we can kind of turn the tide a little bit.”

It’s also a mentality the Avalanche will need to stick with for 60 minutes. Outside of Games 4 and 6, Dallas has done a really nice job of getting in shooting lanes, either blocking Colorado’s attempts or forcing them wide. You must stick with it, though. It’s not that Dallas stopped blocking shots in Games 4 and 6. It’s just that Colorado never stopped letting it rip.

And during Game 6, everyone was shooting.

Martin Necas entered Game 6 with just six shots on goal in the entire series. He finished with six on Thursday alone, one of which found the back of the net. They’ve got to keep peppering Oettinger and going to the net because eventually that shooting will wear him out. The huge rebound that created Valeri Nichushkin’s game-tying goal could have been the result of fatigue and it’s why a shot on net, even from a less dangerous position, is never a bad thing.

The best defense is a good offense, especially when it comes to the Avalanche. If they want to take Game 7, they’ve got to force Dallas to defend as much as they had to in Games 4 and 6. That’s their key to success.