Cool, collected Colorado Avalanche.
After falling behind early, the Avs turned around and controlled a phenomenal 5-1 win over the Dallas Stars. Five unanswered goals up and down the lineup along with great defense were pivotal in the Division Rivalry win.
It’s wins like these for Colorado which can shift the momentum in their favor in the latter part of the season. We’ll have to see where they go from here, however, but they and the fans will enjoy this win regardless. Let’s go over it, shall we?
First Period
The action wouldn’t need long to come to make its appearance in this game. Stars rookie Logan Stankoven got to the front of the net, and just one minute in scored his second career goal on the first shot of the game.
The lead would not last long for Dallas, however. It would be former Star hero Joel Kiviranta slapping a one-timer past Jake Oettinger. It pinged off the post and went in just 68 seconds later to tie the game.
Colorado would use the momentum from this goal to keep pushing. Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen had a couple of looks with great connections but just couldn’t find the finishing touch.
They wouldn’t need to be perfect, however. A rush between the two stars would create a bouncing puck in front of the net with Oettinger down and out. Rantanen would be able to corral enough of the puck to corral it over the line and in to grab the lead.
MacKinnon would still have a couple more looks alongside Rantanen, but neither could beat Oettinger again in the frame. At the other end, the Avs had trouble controlling the puck and moving it cleanly, leaving them exposed at points. It led to a Bowen Byram tripping penalty which carried over to the second period.
Second Period
After killing off the Byram penalty carrying over from the first, it would be all Avalanche. It started with Andrew Cogliano beating his man at the blue line, and scoring his second goal in as many games to double the lead.
Just 49 seconds later, Colorado responded yet again. This time, it would be MacKinnon coming from the near boards to go backhand over Oettinger for the three-goal advantage.
While the Avs had scored four unanswered goals, surprisingly they were still being outshot. More than halfway through the frame, the shots were 20-18 in favor of Dallas.
Even with the stats perhaps being a little outlying, the Avalanche didn’t care. They would just continue getting pucks to the net, and it helped when Wyatt Johnston took a delay of game penalty. Artturi Lehkonen finished off a brilliant tic-tac-toe play to make the lead four heading into the intermission.
Third Period
Mason Marchment had the most action in the third period in the opening seconds, flipping wildly while going for a hit on Josh Manson and landing awkwardly on his neck and back area. Luckily, he would be okay and continue in the game.
The Avs simply shut down play and clogged up any Stars’ chances, completely understandable while up four goals. Aside from a penalty from each side which went off without a hitch, the Avs strolled to a great 5-1 win on home ice.
Yeti Takeaways
It was an all-out effort for Colorado. Just as it needed to be in this big Division Rivalry game. We saw phenomenal depth scoring, particularly from the fourth line. Cogliano scored another goal in his second straight game, while his linemate Kiviranta managed to break the ice for the Avs for the first of five unanswered goals. This helped push the needle in Colorado’s favor, despite at points being outplayed by Dallas, particularly in the first period.
Of course, you couldn’t talk about this game without going over the Avalanche’s star players. MacKinnon wrapped up with two points with a goal and an assist. Rantanen looks to be more like himself, with a goal and assist himself. Cale Makar passed Tyson Barrie for the most points by a defenseman in franchise history, now with 308 career points. He’s only going to extend the record further, maybe making it uncatchable. Finally, props should be given to Alexandar Georgiev, who recovered well after giving up the early goal to make 33 saves in the win.
This was a huge win for Colorado. The win brings the Avs within two points of the Central Division lead, currently in a tie with both the Stars and Winnipeg Jets on 79 points. However, performances like these make you wonder where this team is the entire season. They’ve clearly shown they are capable of turning it on and taking things to the next level against good opponents, as shown in this game. But, with dropped games earlier this season plus a tough road ahead, it’s not getting any easier. They need everything they can get. With Valeri Nichushkin returning soon, it’ll help their case. But can they continue to carry momentum from this win on the road, particularly in the next two games?
Next on the Mountain
The Avs hit the road again, looking to get away from those road woes they’ve had. The first of two games comes against the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday night. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. MT.