Good & Bad: Stars Fight Back, Tie Series With Overtime Winner

DALLAS — An opportunity to grab a stranglehold of the series before heading back to Denver slipped away.

The Avalanche led by a goal entering the third period on Monday, but the Dallas Stars tied it up with 9:47 remaining before winning late in the first overtime period at American Airlines Center. The Avs even had a power play late in regulation that carried into OT but couldn’t capitalize.

The series shifts back to Colorado knotted up at 1-1.

“It’s gonna be a long, tough series,” Cale Makar said. “Obviously it would’ve been nice to get this one. But we gotta the positives. We felt like we controlled the game a lot of different times. Just gotta find ways to create a little bit more.”

Nathan MacKinnon, Jack Drury, and Logan O’Connor had the goals for the Avs, who led 1-0, and 3-2. Neither team led by more than a goal at any time. Colin Blackwell got the game-winner for Dallas after sitting as a healthy scratch in Game 1.

Late in the second period, O’Connor put the Avs ahead 41 seconds after exiting the penalty box. He shot the puck over goalie Jake Oettinger on his backhand while falling to the ice. The first goal and fourth point of the series for O’Connor looked like it might be a game-changer.

But the Stars came out for the third period on a mission, and Evgenii Dadonov beat goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood to make it 3-3.

The late penalty was a hook called on Mikko Rantanen. Colorado couldn’t score in the 1:26 of PP time to end regulation or the 34 seconds that started OT.

Both teams exchanged chances but the more dangerous opportunities came from the Stars. Early in the period, Blackwood robbed Mason Marchment on the doorstep with a sliding pad save. But the Stars kept pressing, and Blackwell tallied the winner.

Blackwood stopped Blackwell’s first chance, but the rebound was buried. The puck sat a few feet ahead of Blackwood with no defenders around to clear it away. Miles Wood, trailing back after a turnover, ran into Erik Johnson, and both players couldn’t regroup fast enough. Blackwell got there first.

“He came out of the corner really quickly [on the rebound], and I was facing kind of up ice and not to the post,” Blackwood said, recalling the overtime winner. “So he kind of beat me to the spot.”

The next two games will be played at Ball Arena, and the Avs, after winning Game 1, now control home-ice advantage. Taking Game 2 could’ve put added pressure on the Stars.

“Every time you lose a game that you played pretty good, you lose an opportunity to take control of the series,” Bednar said. “But like, they’re going to have something to say about it, too, right? So we controlled part of that game, and they controlled part of it, and a lot of it was played pretty even.

“That’s life when you’re playing a team like the Dallas Stars.’’

The Stars didn’t quite have a strong start to the game, but they did come out with a clear plan to throw the body around. They had several big hits early, knocking down both MacKinnon and Johnson on the same shift.

But the Avs didn’t let that deter them from playing their game. They had most of the chances early, eventually drawing a penalty when Marchment tripped Wood.

On the ensuing power play, MacKinnon wired a wrister past goalie Oettinger to make it 1-0. The lead held until the later stages of the first period. Colorado had chances to add to the lead, but Oettinger shut them down.

Before the break, Parker Kelly was called for holding, and Tyler Seguin scored on the man-advantage to make it 1-1.

The momentum carried into the second, and Thomas Harley shot it past Blackwood to give Dallas its first lead of the series.

It didn’t last long. Just 62 seconds to be exact before Drury answered quickly to even the score at 2-2.

It was the first of two big goals from Colorado’s fourth line.

“You’re looking at the pace and physicality and disciplined hockey from both sides throughout the course of the game, there’s no let-up,” Bednar said. “That means the depth is there throughout both lineups.”

Then the penalties began to pile on. First, a tripping call on Mikael Granlund that the Avs were unsuccessful on. Then, Joel Kiviranta was nabbed for interference, but Dallas failed to capitalize.

In the later stages of the period, the Avs had to weather a storm of opportunities for the Stars after taking two more penalties. Josh Manson was called for interference; the Avs were great in the first half of that kill. They even got a 2-on-1 break from O’Connor and Kelly but the latter shot it just wide of his target.

The Stars’ PP sent it back the other way and pinned Colorado in its zone long enough for O’Connor to take a tripping penalty. The seven seconds of a two-man advantage didn’t amount to much, and the remainder of O’Connor’s penalty was killed.

The game ended with the shots at 39-37 in favor of the home team. Blackwood made 35 saves and Oettinger stopped 34.

Bad: Wood’s ‘Exceptional’ Game Spoiled in Overtime

By the time overtime had begun, Wood was a net positive for the Avs. He drew the penalty that directly led to the opening goal and filled in nicely for an injured Ross Colton on the third line.

But the overtime blemish — a gigantic black mark on his overall performance — might erase everything else that came before it. It even seemed like Wood himself felt defeated after the turnover that led to Blackwell’s winner.

“The last goal was my fault,” he said postgame.

The Avs obviously have a giant elephant in the room in captain Gabriel Landeskog, who was possibly an option to play tonight. Instead, they opted for Wood.

You have to imagine Bednar has another lineup decision to consider before Wednesday.

Good: Coyle Quickly Becomes PK Leader

Charlie Coyle was exceptional on the PK and is quickly becoming the go-to option for the Avs. Every time Colorado took a penalty, Coyle jumped over the boards to win a big faceoff. There was none bigger than the draw he took when Dallas had seven seconds of a 5-on-3 opportunity late in the second period. He won it with authority and sent the puck down the ice to help get Manson out of the box.

Coyle played 2:59 of PK time, trailing only Jack Drury (3:04) among forwards.

It’s hard to quantify all of the things Coyle brings to the table for the Avs. But among those is a strong forecheck at even strength, and an aggressive PK ability where he uses his long reach to pressure the puck holder.

We’re starting to see why the Avalanche used as many assets as they did to acquire him.