Aarif Deen
Jamie Benn had an opportunity to put the Avalanche away with an empty-net goal. Instead, the Dallas Stars captain was lackadaisical with the puck and shot it just wide. Colorado came back the other way and got the game-tying goal from Valeri Nichushkin with 13.2 seconds remaining and the rest was history.
The Avalanche defeated Dallas 5-4 in a shootout, extending their winning streak to four games and ending the Stars’ at 10. By securing the second point, the Avs gained a seven-point lead on Dallas with a game in hand for the top seed in the Central Division.
Martin Necas had a goal and three asissts, while Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two helpers. Cale Makar also recorded multiple points (goal, assist). Nichushking and Necas also scored in a shootout.
Scott Wedgewood was credited with the win, as he entered the game in relief and stopped all 10 shots he faced. Mackenzie Blackwood was pulled after surrendering four goals on 11 shots. Colorado trailed 4-2 at the time.
The Avs got on the board first, and it was a power-play goal from Makar that put them ahead at 3:33. But rather than building off the lead, and a rare power-play goal, Colorado instead got called for a penalty and gave a PP tally right back at 7:11.
The Stars took complete control, and several bad turnovers from the Avs led to golden opportunities for the home team. Goals from Wyatt Johnston and Justin Hryckowian made it 3-1 by the 16-minute mark. The Avalanche started to fight back. They got a PP shortly after, but couldn’t capitalize.
Then they got yet another chance. At 19:46, Mavrik Bourque was sent to the box for interference. Just 12 seconds later, MacKinnon fired a one-timer from the left circle with under two seconds remaining in the period to make it 3-2.
With the game suddenly much more within reach, it felt like the perfect opportunity for the Avalanche to work through the many turnovers they had in the opening frame. But the pattern continued in the second, and another blunder led to yet another Dallas goal, this time from Benn at 1:52.
That was when Blackwood was replaced by Wedgewood. And the Avs’ usual backup had to make a handful of huge saves right away as the Avalanche were still fighting it.
Colorado eventually got one from Necas before the halfway mark to pull within a goal. The game slowed down the rest of the way, before Nichushkin cashed in late to send the game to overtime.
Each goalie made two saves in what was an entertaining five minutes of 3-on-3. In the shootout, Wedgewood stopped both shooters to let the Avs secure the victory after going 2-for-2.
Good: Power Play
I’ll get more into this in my Takeaways piece, but the Avalanche’s power play looked spectacular. Its felt like the Avs have been building this thing since the Olympics. And against Dallas, it was the PP that saved them when they were getting overmatched at 5-on-5.
Bad: Blackwood Blunder
There were many turnovers — too many to count — that costed the Avs in this one. But the Blackwood blunder in the first period was the worst of them all. Blackwood went behind the goal to play the puck. He ended up shooting right into his defenseman Devon Toews, which caused the puck to riccochet in front of the goal. As he scrambled to get back into position, he lost his stick. And the result was a wide-open goal for Hryckowian to shoot at.