The Stars bounced back from a disappointing loss in Chicago with a big win in Denver.
The Stars bounced back from a disappointing loss in Chicago with a big win in Denver.
After their eight-game winning streak came to a screeching halt Saturday afternoon in Chicago, the Dallas Stars didn't have time to dwell on the loss against the Blackhawks. A Sunday night showdown in Denver with the Colorado Avalanche awaited them.
Dallas came into the game occupying the top spot in the Central Division by three points over the Avs, but came into Sunday's contest having lost four straight against them including the previous three meetings this season.
It was a battle between the two highest-scoring teams in the NHL, and Dallas prevailed 7-4. Six different Stars scored, with three of the goals coming on power plays in the second period.
Colorado boasted the best home record in the league at 29-7-1 (59 points). The Stars were looking to set new franchise records for most road victories and road points in a season.
The Avs would have to play without one of their main weapons. Forward Mikko Rantanen, second on the team both in goals (40) and points (102) was put in concussion protocol after taking a hit during a 6-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.
Nevertheless, they still had their leading scorer Nathan MacKinnon, who came into the game with 48 goals and 83 assists, and it didn't take long for the Avs to get on the scoreboard.
Just two minutes into the game, Colorado defenseman Sean Walker snapped Jake Oettinger's shutout streak of 154:20, blasting a shot from the blue line for a quick 1-0 Avs lead. It was Walker's 10th goal of the season.
The Stars' hard work finally paid off late in the period. Matt Duchene evened things up 1-1, taking a transition pass from Chris Tanev, faking out Georgiev and slipping the puck into the open net for his 25th goal of the season at 17:11.
Just two minutes later, Dallas took a 2-1 lead on a Jamie Benn redirect following a nice receiving pass from Esa Lindell, who was playing in his 600th NHL game. Benn now has 21 goals on the season and points in 15 of his last 17 games.
Oettinger started off the second period with a great save off his skate when Tanev blocked Valeri Nichushkin's progress on a shot.
After going on the power play following a slashing penalty by Ryan Suter, the Avalanche tied the game when Artturi Lehkonen hit a one-timer off a beautiful cross-seam pass from MacKinnon, who now has points in 66 of the 78 games he's played this season. The goal was Lehkonen's 15th of the year.
Dallas then took control after three Avalanche penalties led to three unanswered goals. The first came at the midway point of the second period after Benn took a high stick from Walker, who drew a double minor.
Roope Hintz made the Avs pay at the 11:25 mark after a redirect at the top of the crease off a Joe Pavelski pass. The goal was Hintz's 30th of the season, joining Wyatt Johnston in the 30-goal club.
At 12:45, Tyler Seguin took a pass from Duchene and nailed a one-timer from the slot for his 24th of the year and a 4-2 Stars lead.
Mason Marchment increased the lead to 5-2 after putting his own rebound off the right post into an open net at 17:10. The Stars came into the game ranked fourth in the NHL in power play percentage on the road (24.6%), and the three goals only added to that figure.
With 45 seconds left in the frame, Brandon Duhaime out-muscled Nils Lundkvist on a rebound at the crease, cutting the lead to 5-3.
Virtually no lead is safe against the Avalanche, who are tied with the New York Rangers for the most comeback victories this season (26), and they rank third with 11 third-period comebacks.
The Stars were certainly aware of this, having lost leads of 3-0 and 4-2 leads in the two meetings in Dallas this season. To emphasize the point, Jonathan Drouin deflected a Devon Toews shot past Oettinger to narrow the Stars' lead to 5-4.
Johnston made sure there would be no Colorado comeback, getting a loose puck and ripping one at the crease for his 31st tally of the season and giving the Stars some breathing room.
The Avs had a brief flurry in the last three minutes, but Seguin potted his second goal of the night on a empty-netter. Oettinger and the defense held firm to preserve a big 7-4 win for the Stars, widening their lead in the Central Division over Colorado to five points. The magic number to clinch the division is four, with any combination of Stars wins or Colorado losses equaling four points.
Takeaways
Prior to the game, coach Pete DeBoer called this matchup "the biggest game of the season."
That's not an exaggeration. While the loss to Chicago the previous day wasn't the end of the world, it made Sunday's game with the Avalanche more important. Playing the second night of a back-to-back at Ball Arena, a place where the Stars have gone 0-3-0 the past two seasons, would be a challenge under ordinary circumstances.
That challenge got a bit tougher when the flight to Denver was delayed due to high winds in Chicago. The Stars didn't arrive until early Sunday morning. But these are the challenges a team must overcome if they hope to make a deep playoff run.
Although he allowed an early first-period goal that could have given Colorado momentum, Jake Oettinger made numerous key saves when it counted most. He stopped 36 of 40 shots, including 14 of 15 in the third period alone.
Oettinger now has seven consecutive victories and 32 wins this season. Giving up four goals might be considered a mediocre night, but the Avs don't have the league's best goals-per-game average for nothing.
The defense came up big, too, with 28 blocked shots. Esa Lindell, despite missing most of the second period after suffering a lower-body injury, led the team with five. Miro Heiskanen stopped four and Joe Pavelski blocked three.
The Stars' depth once again showed itself. Six different players contributed goals, while 11 picked up at least a point. Two players, Johnston and Hintz, have each eclipsed the 30-goal mark. Eight players have scored 20-plus goals, tops in the NHL.
Dallas moves its record to 49-20-9 with 107 points. The team will finish the remaining four regular-season games on home ice, hosting the Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets, Seattle Kraken and St. Louis Blues.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Dallas Stars site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.
Stars' Winning Streak Halted at Eight After Stunning Loss to Blackhawks
Hall of Fame Goalie An Inspiration for Jake Oettinger
Stars Set Franchise Record in Edmonton Win
DeBoer Noncommittal On Tanev's Return
- undefined