3 Takeaways From Avalanche’s Game 4 Loss to Stars

Georgiev was the only reason the Avalanche weren’t blown out of their home arena in the first period. The Stars outshot Colorado 16-2 in the first 20 minutes, but Dallas only took a 1-0 lead at the end of the first. Georgiev was huge during a Stars power play, making four fantastic saves during the intense penalty kill. Dallas’ lone first-period goal was hard to pin on Georgiev, as Wyatt Johnston took advantage of a bad turnover by Cale Makar behind the Avalanche net to open the scoring with a short-handed tally.

A lot of Georgiev’s woes originate on the other end of the ice, as Dallas netminder Jake Oettinger has been very good. Oettinger stopped 24 shots on Monday after turning away 28 shots in the Stars’ Game 3 victory. He’s gotten some big help – namely Johnston’s short-handed goal on Monday – but he continues to keep one of the NHL’s most dangerous teams off the board. Georgiev’s inconsistency at the end of the regular season and rough first playoff game caused questions early in the playoffs, but he’s been pretty steady throughout the postseason. It’s a matter of the Avs offense solving Oettinger if they want to come back in this series.

Nichushkin Exits Playoffs Again

Shortly before the game began, news broke that Nichushkin had been placed in Stage 3 of the league’s Player Assistance Program. He completed some programs with the Player Assistance Program earlier this season, from January to March. While specific details of the stages are usually not disclosed to the public because they vary for each individual, Stage 3 generally involves the player who has completed initial treatment requiring additional support or monitoring.

It’s been a rough past 12 months for Nichushkin. In the first round of last season’s playoffs, he appeared in just two playoff games before departing the team for personal reasons. This followed a bizarre incident just hours before Colorado’s Game 3 against the Seattle Kraken was set to begin. This is Nichushkin’s fifth season with the Avs, and he has enjoyed a career revival with a pair of 25-goal campaigns over the past three seasons. His 28 goals and 53 points during the regular season were career highs despite Nichushkin playing in just 54 games.

The movement into Stage 3 brings a penalty of a minimum six-month suspension without pay. Following that period, he can apply for reinstatement. From a hockey standpoint, it’s a crippling blow to the Avalanche. Nichushkin was the NHL’s leading goal scorer in the playoffs with nine. He recorded a goal in seven of his eight playoff appearances. He was replaced on the top line for Monday’s game by Artturi Lehkonen.

Drouin Delivers in Avs Playoff Debut

There wasn’t much for Avalanche fans to cheer about on Monday, but one of the feel-good stories of the regular season popped up in the playoffs. Jonathan Drouin delivered a career year in his first season with the Avs but hasn’t been able to play in the postseason after sustaining a lower-body injury in the team’s regular-season finale. He played in this season’s playoffs for the first time on Monday and delivered a great assist on Colorado’s only goal while logging nearly 20 minutes of ice time.

Monday’s game wasn’t only his first playoff action this season; it’s also Drouin’s first postseason appearance since the 2020 playoffs when he was with the Montreal Canadiens. His return was crucial for the Avalanche, particularly after the Nichushkin news broke. Drouin was placed on the second line with Casey Mittelstadt and Zach Parise, and all of them worked to get the Avs goal. Parise started the charge with a blistering forecheck. The puck worked its way to Drouin behind the net, and he slid it to Mittelstadt for the goal.

The return of Drouin might help, but it might be too little, too late for the Avalanche. Missing the forward for the entirety of the playoffs up to Monday was an unforeseen drawback, as he played in 79 of the team’s 82 regular-season games. He also put up a career-best 37 assists and 56 points this season. Colorado will need more depth scoring to make a comeback, but they’ll also need their superstars to pick up the slack. Game 5 is on Wednesday in Dallas.