The Dallas Stars went into Saturday's Game Four contest with a prime chance to take a 3-1 lead with the series heading back to Dallas.  Those aspirations were dashed as Colorado thoroughly outplayed Dallas to send the series back to Dallas tied. 

It is not often that a team is given an early chance to stamp their foot on the throat of their opponent. The Stars were blessed with that chance on Saturday night, but were quickly squashed as Colorado put two goals on the board in the first period from Logan O'Connor and Nathan MacKinnon. What was most concerning about the early deficient was that the two goals came during the odd-man advantage, and the opening goal came while Colorado was shorthanded. The moment that will stand out even after the series concludes would be the moment Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog scored his first goal in nearly three years. Colorado would eventually tack on one more tally to solidify a 4-0 victory in Game Four. 

While a loss resulting in a even series could be cause for concern, the real concern should lie with the fact that the Stars were outplayed. One would think that all types of momentum would be carried into, as the Stars picked up both series wins in overtime. Not only did that momentum evaporate, but the Stars looked entirely overmatched, especially in the second period, where Dallas was outshot 22-5. What was even more troubling was how fruitless their power play, falling short in all four chances.

With the combination of poor defense, and inability to capitalize on special teams, the Stars will indeed need to start from scratch as they will attempt to gain back control of the series on their home ice. The Stars will mostly look to improve upon the defensive help in front of goaltender Jake Oettinger, who stopped 31 of the 34 shots thrown his way in just two periods of work. If the Stars turn out a performance similar to Game Four, then one could not expect the series to last much longer. The Stars and Avalanche will meet again in Game Five on Monday night at the American Airlines Center.