Oct 11, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Dallas Stars right wing Nathan Bastian (11) celebrates after his goal in the second period against the Colorado Avalanche at Ball Arena. (Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images)

Stars Squeak By Avalanche 5-4 in SO Thriller

Originally posted on The Hockey Writers | By Marc Sautter | Last updated Oct 12, 2025 12:20 AM ET

The Dallas Stars won a hard-fought divisional battle against the Colorado Avalanche by a score of 5-4 in a shootout.

Thomas Harley, Nathan Bastian, Jason Robertson, and Wyatt Johnston scored for the Stars. Robertson and Mikko Rantanen scored in the shootout. Jake Oettinger made 35 saves in the win.

Martin Necas, Gavin Brindley, Artturi Lehkonen, and Nathan MacKinnon scored for the Avalanche. Valeri Nichushkin scored in the shootout. Scott Wedgewood made 18 saves in the loss.

Game Recap

The Stars struck first on Saturday night late in the first period with a vicious slap shot from Harley at the top of the right circle off a perfect pass from Rantanen, who was across the zone and the bottom of the left circle.

Necas answered for the Avalanche at 3:54 of the second with a wrist shot that beat a diving Oettinger just underneath the crossbar.

The Avalanche took the lead at 10:07 when Olofsson set up Brindley in front of the net, who beat Oettinger past his left pad.

Bastian scored his first goal as a member of the Stars on a play that was similar to Brindley’s goal just five minutes earlier. Lindell found Bastian in front of the net, and Bastian shovelled the puck past Wedgewood to tie the game at 2-2.

Robertson scored his second of the season three minutes later with a tip-in of Harley’s shot from the point to give the Stars the 3-2 lead heading into the third period.

Lehkonen tied the game at 3-3 just 34 seconds into the final period with a backdoor shot off a cross-crease pass from MacKinnon.

94 seconds later, Johnston went forehand-backhand on a beautiful breakaway play to beat Wedgewood inside the left post.

At 10:46, during the back half of a four-minute power play, MacKinnon took a pass at the right faceoff dot and snapped it over Oettinger and right under the crossbar to tie the game once again, this time, at 4-4.

Both netminders were phenomenal down the stretch to get this game to overtime, and Oettinger, in particular, was spectacular to give his team a chance to win in the shootout, which they eventually did.

The Avalanche outshot the Stars 39-22 and went 1-for-5 on the power play, while the Stars went 0-for-2 with the man advantage.

Up Next

Next up, the Avalanche will be in Buffalo on Monday afternoon to take on the Sabres, while the Stars will host the Wild for their home opener on Tuesday night.