If you wanted to watch a very offensive hockey game, you got it in this matchup. But, if you were looking for defense with the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, it was far from it.
The Avs fell 7-4 against the Stars, and all but lost their chance of winning first place in the Central Division for the first time in five years. It was far from their best game, especially with Dallas on the second leg of a back-to-back having played the Chicago Blackhawks yesterday. Let’s unfortunately go over this terrifically terrible loss.
First Period
Alexandar Georgiev was busy early, and physicality was high thanks to a big Josh Manson hit. While the Avs were under pressure, it would be Sean Walker scoring on the first shot of the game for Colorado.
While Georgiev was still busy and being peppered 9-1 in shots, Colorado found their offensive legs more. A couple of great shifts led to no goals, including a great 2-on-1 Nathan MacKinnon chance which went missing.
But eventually, the powerful offense for the Stars would break through in the final five minutes. First, it would be Matt Duchene scoring as he always does against the Avs to tie it up. In the final minute, Jamie Benn would get the lead on a redirect.
Second Period
The Avs couldn’t take advantage of an early power play with Wyatt Johnston in the box for hooking. But they did take advantage of a Ryan Suter penalty, with MacKinnon finding Artturi Lehkonen in a phenomenal play to tie it up.
While Georgiev was great and making saves left right and center, he didn’t get much help in front of him. Sean Walker took a double minor for high sticking, leading to two straight power-play goals by Roope Hintz and Tyler Seguin to make it 4-2 just like that.
While Joe Pavelski just missed making it 5-2, his team would not. Cale Makar took a slashing penalty, leading to a fifth goal by Mason Marchment who finished it off the post.
With the Avs looking down and out, there would be a sign of life. Brandon Duhaime got his first in an Avs jersey right in front to make it a two-goal deficit with 20 minutes to go.
Third Period
Colorado knew what was at stake, coming out positively to start the third period. They got looks, but not many Grade-A chances. Eventually, past the halfway point their work would pay off thanks to a tip-in by Jonathan Drouin who tied his career-high record of 53 points in a season.
The Avs kept pushing, with several first-line shifts getting great looks at Jake Oettinger which were just going wide. Within the final five minutes, it looked as though Colorado was bound to find an equalizer.
But then, the Stars would find an insurance goal and take the life out of Ball Arena. Johnston got the puck in front and was able to bat it in to make it 6-4.
With the life out of the building, the Avs had an even bigger uphill battle in the final few minutes. Georgiev was pulled but to no avail. Tyler Seguin added on to the goals by adding in a 175-foot empty netter to seal the 7-4 win.
Yeti Takeaways
Man, there is not a whole lot of good coming out of this game. The second period was horrendous for the defense, as it was for the entire game. But, particularly in the middle frame was the major turning point of the game. The Walker double-minor put the game out of reach, and the entire penalty kill unit as a whole was not good. They gave up three goals on Dallas’ three power-play chances, while only going 1-for-2 on the man advantage themselves. Giving up three power-play goals will certainly not win you hockey games.
The major concern from this game should be the Avs’ lack of keeping up with Dallas, especially since they played yesterday against the Chicago Blackhawks. They had a golden chance to get within one point of the Stars with a win, which looked even brighter thanks to the back-to-back situation alongside the loss in the previous game to the Hawks. Hence, this loss is very disheartening and only makes this Colorado team more confusing than they already were before. There’s a lot needed to be worked on and with only two weeks left in the regular season, now is not the time to be having problems.
As mentioned earlier, the loss all but puts the Avs out of contention for winning the Central Division. They are five points behind the Stars with four games left. Dallas has four games left as well, and both teams need to win out and lose out respectively for it to go Colorado’s way. Hence, a matchup with the Winnipeg Jets looks even more likely in the first round.
Next on the Mountain
The Avs have two more home games in this home stand, starting Tuesday night against the Minnesota Wild. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. MT on ESPN.