Avalanche fail to find groove in Game 3 against Dallas Stars

The team was consistently missing passes and over skating pucks. Dallas picked up the pucks left for teammates and ran with them without hesitation.

The second period held a better performance, even resulting in a goal from Mikko Rantanen off of a rebound from Nathan MacKinnon. Not only was this goal a relief on the scoreboard, but it also was a stark contrast from the game two statistics. Neither Rantanen nor MacKinnon recorded a shot, which is not a good look for two top-line forwards.

The Avalanche consistently outshot the Stars, and their lone goal took 20 shots to find. Colorado had several chances in high-danger zones, but Stars goalie Jake Oettinger seemed to beat them to the punch every time.

A second Stars goal going on the scoreboard killed Colorado’s momentum, leaving the team at a 2-1 deficit at the end of the second period.

The home team found their saving grace in the performance of Alexandar Georgiev, who has been locked in since the series against the Winnipeg Jets. He had several clutch saves to keep the game within reach for Colorado.

The coach pulled Georgiev from the ice late in the third period in favor of the extra attacker. The team could not keep the puck under control in the offensive zone, allowing the Stars to net two additional goals.

Takeaways

In games like this, especially in the series against Dallas, the game changers come down to the little things. The Avalanche could not convert on any of their three power plays and had 12 giveaways.

The top defensive pair picked up five shots on goal each, with MacKinnon and Rantanen each picking up four. At the very least, this is an improvement from their last showing, where MacKinnon and Rantanen came up empty.

The team failed to play a full 60 minutes, appearing lackadaisical in the third period despite the Stars clearly becoming fatigued.

The two teams will face off again on Monday at 7:30 p.m. in Denver.