On the eve of his 21st birthday, Johnston led the Stars to a 5-1 victory and a 3-1 lead in the series.
On the eve of his 21st birthday, Johnston led the Stars to a 5-1 victory and a 3-1 lead in the series.
Game 4 between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche took place the day before Wyatt Johnston's 21st birthday. The kid who wasn't old enough to legally drink or gamble has looked like a seasoned veteran in his second season with the Stars, coming into Monday's contest with five goals in the playoffs.
The only storyline that would be sweeter than Dallas taking a 3-1 lead in the Stanley Cup Second Round series would be Johnston scoring one or more goals on his final day of being a 20-year-old.
If Hollywood made Game 4 into a movie, it couldn't have been scripted any better. Johnston scored two goals while Miro Heiskanen, Evgenii Dadonov and Sam Steel each potted a goal as the Stars completed a two-game sweep at Ball Arena in Denver with a 5-1 win. The series returns to Dallas with the Stars holding a 3-1 edge.
"It was really important that we kept our focus, stuck to the business at hand," Stars head coach Pete DeBoer said. "We talked about we'd been the best team on the road all year because regardless of the building or the lineup for the other team, who's in, who's out, we approach the game the same way and took care of business."
The Avalanche received two pieces of bad news shortly before game time. Winger Valeri Nichushkin, who was tied for the NHL lead with nine goals, was placed in the NHL Player Assistance Program and was suspended without pay for six months, putting him out for the remainder of the post-season.
If that wasn't enough, the Avs lost one of their top defensemen, Devon Toews, who was a late scratch due to an illness. Jonathan Drouin, who hadn't played in the series, replaced Nichushkin, while Caleb Jones was penciled in for Toews.
If Colorado was shell-shocked by the loss of two of their best players, it clearly showed in the first period. The Stars completely dominated the frame, with 14 shots on goal to just 2 for Colorado. Avs goalie Alexandar Georgiev was the biggest reason the Stars came away with only one goal in the period, denying Mason Marchment, Joe Pavelski and Wyatt Johnston on big saves.
The Stars, who were 3-for-10 on the power play in the series, got the first chance of the night when Caleb Jones, filling in for Devon Toews after a late scratch, went off for tripping at 11:27. Dallas kept up a steady stream of shots throughout the power play, but Georgiev was rock-solid.
Stankoven gave Colorado a power play chance after he was called for hooking Samuel Girard at 15:17. The Stars' penalty-kill, eighth in the NHL at 75% during the playoffs, picked up their second shorthanded goal of the series when Johnston scored his team-leading sixth goal of the post-season following a turnover and a flurry of shots before finally getting one past Georgiev on a rebound near the end of the first period.
Just as the frame ended, the Avs' Josh Manson was called for roughing Jamie Benn; however, Benn received a goalie interference call while attempting to score. The second period would begin with a 4-on-4 situation, but neither team was able to capitalize.
Dallas did lose one of its forwards after Roope Hintz went to the dressing room following a cross check in the first period. He suffered an upper-body injury, per the Stars communications department.
The Avs came out with a little more pep in their step to start the second with a couple of rushes. But the Stars got another power play at 3:59 when Jones was called for hooking Stankoven.
Johnston made the Avs pay with his second goal of the night on a cross-ice pass from Jason Robertson and a 2-0 Dallas lead. Johnston set a new franchise record for most playoff goals by a player before his 21st birthday with 10 after scoring his first goal, then made it 11 with his second.
Miro Heiskanen, who got a secondary assist on Johnston's earlier power play goal, scored his fourth of the post-season at 11:24 on a floating wrist shot through a Tyler Seguin screen for a 3-0 Dallas lead.
Casey Mittelstadt got the Avs on the board over a minute later with a wrister from the top of the crease following a breakdown in defensive coverage by Dallas. It was Mittlestadt's second goal of the playoffs.
The Stars took their 3-1 lead into the second intermission, knowing full well they would need a third-period lockdown similar to the one in Game 3 to keep the explosive Avs offense from mounting a comeback.
Colorado got the first six shots on goal in the third, but the Stars defense protected Oettinger by constantly swarming the net and not allowing many second-chance opportunities. Evgenii Dadonov put the exclamation point on the night at 9:27 with a shot off a rebound at the top of the crease for his third goal of the post-season to increase the lead to 4-1.
That took what little wind might have been left in Colorado's sails. Georgiev was pulled with four minutes left in regulation, and Sam Steel scored an empty-netter off a pass from Johnston to give Dallas a 5-1 victory, its largest margin of the series. Johnston, who could have scored a hat trick on the eve of his 21st birthday, selflessly chose to pass to Steel for the empty-netter.
For Johnston, the past couple of years has been almost like a fairy tale, and Monday's performance was another chapter.
"I don't think... If you were telling me I'd be in the position playing in the NHL playoffs for the Stars, if you had told me that in 2020 (during COVID), I don't know if I'd believe you," Johnston said. "It's been a pretty cool couple of years and I'm just really thankful and just so happy to have met some amazing people along the way."
The Stars outshot the Avs 34-25 for the game and blocked 27 shots to just 12 for the Avs. They looked like a team on a mission. How much of an effect the absences of Nichushkin and Toews had on the Avalanche is anybody's guess, but Dallas took control of the game and never looked back.
"We wanted to take control and have a great start," Heiskanen said. "I think we played a great first period and I think the second was pretty good, too. I think it was a great game overall and we have to keep doing that and take the next one."
The Stars outscored Colorado 9-2 in the two games at Ball Arena, holding Hart Trophy finalist Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar to one point combined. After losing the first two games to Vegas in the opening round of the playoffs, they are 7-2 over their last nine games and 4-1 on the road.
Even though Colorado came back from a three-goal lead to take Game 1 and almost overcame a four-goal deficit in Game 2, the Stars have yet to trail in the series. One of the biggest reasons, along with rock-solid defense and goaltending, is the special teams units.
The Stars are 4-for-10 (40%) on the power play in the series. After giving up two power play goals by the Avs to start the series, Dallas' penalty-kill unit has succeeded on eight consecutive opportunities and have a shorthanded goal.
Along with Hintz, the Stars have a couple of other injury concerns. Forward Craig Smith and defenseman Chris Tanev also left the game, but DeBoer did not have an update on either of their conditions after the game.
Game 5 is set for Wednesday at American Airlines Center, with puck drop scheduled for 8:30 Pm CT. The Stars clearly have Colorado on the ropes, so it would be in their best interest to close out the series at home.
"We know there's still a job to be done," Pavelski said. "It's a really good group over there. They can get it going in a hurry too, so there's a lot of responsibility and a big job that's still out there to be done."
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