For the first time since the days between Games One and Two in Winnipeg, the Avalanche find themselves in the precarious position of trailing in a series. And this time, they really don’t have anyone to blame but themselves.
Colorado controlled the majority of the play through 40 minutes, but a lack of execution and an ugly powerplay didn’t allow them to take advantage of the chances they were given. Just a few minutes after Colorado tied the game in the second, Dallas scored the go-ahead goal and never looked back, suffocating the home team in the third period on their way to a 4-1 victory. The Stars now lead the series 2-1 and have an opportunity to take a stranglehold of the series on Monday night.
Mikko Rantanen scored the lone goal for Colorado, but all the work on the play was done by Nathan MacKinnon and Devon Toews. Alexandar Georgiev was solid in net, stopping 19 of the 21 shots he faced.
First Period
Colorado was given every opportunity to get off to a hot start at home. Multiple powerplay opportunities, all the momentum, and the crowd behind them. It was all there.
It just didn’t happen.
While Colorado controlled a large portion of the shot attempts at even strength, most of them seemed to come from the outside. Their hard work allowed them to draw a few penalties, including the Stars getting a too many men penalty of their own. However, that man advantage was not sharp at all.
On the first attempt, MacKinnon looked to have an empty net to shoot at, but Chris Tanev got over just in time to block it. The rest of the powerplay wasn’t so great, with Jamie Benn getting a shorthanded breakaway that Georgiev had to make a big save on. Powerplay opportunity number two wasn’t much better, with missed passes on zone entries all over the place. Their best opportunity of the period came late on that powerplay and off the rush, as a MacKinnon tip towards the net snuck through Oettinger, but never fully crossed the goal line.
Failure to capitalize on those opportunities ended up biting them, as did some turnovers. After a solid shift in the offensive zone, Colorado got stuck in their own end and couldn’t clear the zone. MacKinnon tried to pass it up the middle, but it appeared to bounce over Toews’ stick and right to the Stars. Logan Stankoven picked it up and his shot snuck through Georgiev, giving the Stars the 1-0 lead. That would make it three straight games where the Stars would get themselves on the scoreboard first.
Second Period
Colorado started the period with a powerplay, but it went about as poorly as the first two did, leading to the fans to get a little restless. When Brandon Duhaime took a penalty in the neutral zone, it looked like the Avalanche might have wasted another glorious opportunity.
The penalty kill came through, though. Georgiev made a big save with his head, and Sam Girard was the star of the penalty kill, blocking some shots and taking away passing lanes. When Duhaime got out of the box, he took the puck to the net and suddenly, the crowd was back in it. One minute later, the stars finally broke through.
Devon Toews, just like he did in Game Five against Winnipeg, entered the zone and slowed down. He hit MacKinnon, who circled back to the top of the slot, picked up the pass and dangled through Chris Tanev. His backhand shot was stopped, but Rantanen was there to clean up the rebound, making it 1-1 and getting the fans back into the game.
A few minutes later, Nichushkin hit the post off a nice passing play. Just when it looked like Colorado had all the momentum, the Stars capitalized on a perfect rush play. Evgeni Dadonov hit Tyler Seguin on the backdoor, who Cogliano couldn’t tie up, and the Stars forward gave his team the 2-1 lead.
Despite outshooting the Stars 23-13 after two, Colorado found themselves trailing heading into the third.
Third Period
The Stars found another gear in the third, and that gear including packing it in through the neutral zone, sitting back in a 1-2-2. In the past, that has been an achilles heal for the Avalanche, and it was again this time. The Stars forced Colorado to dump the puck in, but that’s not how the Avalanche want to play, and they struggled to generate any offense in the final period. Oettinger stopped all seven shots sent his way in the third and that was the end of it all.
Seguin and Stankoven each added empty net goals, giving the Stars the 4-1 victory and the 2-1 series lead.
Game Four between these two teams will take place on Monday at 7:30 PM MST.
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