The Colorado Avalanche fought their way back to the top of the NHL power rankings the hard way.

Colorado faced adversity in consecutive divisional matchups, trailing 3–1 against the Dallas Stars and later falling behind 2–1 against the Minnesota Wild. In both contests, the Avalanche refused to fade, rallying late to secure pivotal victories against their NHL Central Division rivals.

Thought the Avalanche had the Central Division wrapped up? Think again — the race is wide open once more.

Since securing those key wins, the Avs have stumbled slightly, dropping two of their last three games. Meanwhile, the Stars have surged at exactly the right time. Dallas has won four straight, including a 3–2 victory Saturday night over the Detroit Red Wings on home ice.

As a result, the Stars (42-14-10, 94 points) now sit just three points behind the Avalanche (44-12-9), tightening the Central Division race as the regular season begins its final stretch.

Thomas Harley delivered the decisive moment just over two minutes into overtime, lifting Dallas to a dramatic 3–2 victory over Detroit. The goal not only secured the win but also allowed the Stars to tie a franchise record with a 15-game point streak.

Harley struck 2:06 into the extra period after collecting the puck in the neutral zone and accelerating past the Detroit defense for a breakaway. With open ice ahead of him, the young blueliner snapped a shot past the goaltender to end the game and send the home crowd into celebration.

The overtime heroics came only after Detroit forced extra time late in regulation. Lucas Raymond tied the game 2–2 with 3:26 remaining in the third period when a rebound deflected off his torso as he drove hard to the front of the net, slipping past the Dallas goaltender and erasing what had been a two-goal Stars lead.

“There's a lot of open ice out there,” Harley told reporters. “Speed and skill are the forefront of it. It’s pretty positionless out there and I like to play offense. (Overtime) fits me very well. I felt like I had a step on them and you never know. Put it on net and see what happens. Winning is fun. It’s a shame we blew our two-goal lead. But two points is two points.”

The victory pushed Dallas’ remarkable run to 15 straight games with at least a point (14-0-1), matching a franchise mark originally set from Dec. 6, 1998, to Jan. 6, 1999. That earlier stretch went 12-0 with three ties. The current surge also featured a franchise-record 10-game winning streak that was snapped in a 5–4 shootout loss to Colorado on March 6.

Throughout the streak, Dallas has received contributions from across its lineup — a key factor in maintaining momentum during one of the most demanding stretches of the schedule.

“I thought we played a good game tonight,” Dallas forward Matt Duchene said. “I don’t know how many scoring chances we gave up, I don’t think it was many. This is a grind of a schedule. We’re playing a lot of good teams.

“I think maybe we got a little tired in the third, too, but found a way to get it done. Big goal by [Harley] there. We’ve got different guys stepping up at different moments for us right now and that’s why we’re going like we are.”

Colorado’s late push has been energized by the dramatic return of Nazem Kadri. Reacquired in the final hour before the trade deadline, Kadri received a thunderous standing ovation in Denver ahead of Colorado’s 3–2 shootout victory over Minnesota on March 8.

His presence has already injected new life into the Avalanche lineup, providing veteran experience, physicality, and offensive depth as the postseason race intensifies.

Still, if the past few weeks have proven anything, it’s that the battle for the Central Division crown is far from settled.

The Stars have 16 games remaining on their regular season schedule, while the Avalanche have 17. Each team will play once more before they meet Wednesday night in a highly anticipated showdown at Ball Arena.

Colorado hosts the Pittsburgh Penguins on Monday, the same night Dallas faces the Utah Mammoth.

The Avalanche are currently without captain Gabriel Landeskog, who continues to recover from a lower-body injury. Forward Logan O'Connor, who underwent a second hip surgery after a season complicated by lingering issues, is also nearing a return.

Dallas has dealt with its own injury challenges throughout the season and is awaiting the return of star forward Mikko Rantanen — a longtime Avalanche standout — who suffered a lower-body injury during the 2026 Winter Olympics.

With the division lead tightening and a head-to-head matchup looming, the stage is set for what could be one of the defining stretches of the season.

It’s all coming down to the wire.