It’s been back-to-back overtime games, blown third-period leads, and tragic finishes for the Colorado Avalanche.
There’s no way around it. This was as bad as it gets.
Despite the Avalanche beginning the overtime period with 3:21 left on the power play, they failed to convert, as they did all night. That allowed Mason Marchment to feed Tyler Seguin for the 2-1 game-winner. The Stars have taken a 2-1 series lead and have collected four consecutive playoff victories at Ball Arena.
Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog returned to the lineup for the first time since Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals against the Tampa Bay Lightning. He played great and was one of a few players who played with a sense of urgency on the ice. The other was Valeri Nichushkin, who scored the lone goal for Colorado on a beautiful individual effort. However, the rest of the game was quite the opposite of beautiful. Morose and depressing would be a great way to describe it.
Mackenzie Blackwood, as he has been throughout the series, was outstanding. He stopped 26 of 28 shots while Jake Oettinger stoned 27 of 28 shots.
First Period
Both teams were penalized early. Ryan Lindgren was sent to the box on what appeared to be a very soft cross-checking call on Wyatt Johnston, and Mikko Rantanen was nailed for tripping Nichushkin.
The Avalanche struck first for a change when Nichushkin scored 8:09 into the frame on a gorgeous individual effort. With Lindgren and Rantanen still in the box, Nichushkin used a screen from Brock Nelson to penetrate the Stars’ defensive zone and beat Oettinger on a triple deke to score the first period’s lone goal. And to boot, it was the only goal for the Avalanche on a night where they should have been celebrating the return of their captain and playing their hearts out.
Colorado went on the power play late in the first when Nicklas Blackwell, the hero for Dallas in Game 1, reached in with his stick and took Nathan MacKinnon’s skates out from underneath him. The Stars killed the penalty, but Colorado had a couple of opportunities to score. Cale Makar fired a shot from the point, but it missed wide left.
At the end of the first period, Colorado held a 1-0 lead, while Dallas held the shots advantage, 14-5.
Second Period
Fifty-one seconds into the frame, Oettinger made an incredible save when Brock Nelson tried to punch in a loose puck on the right side of the goal. The sequence formulated when Samuel Girard carried the puck and attempted to pull off a wrap-around, but it trickled in front of the goal. Nelson got his stick on the puck, but Oettinger made an incredible blocker save and subsequently fell on top of the puck to prevent another rebound.
A scary moment occurred 6:08 into the second when Lian Bichsel went down to the ice after being struck by a Josh Manson shot somewhere around his ribcage. After a brief delay, Bichsel made his way to the bench. Shortly before that, Bichsel also took a vicious check into the boards from Joel Kiviranta.
The game continued to be tightly contested, as has been the case for most of the series thus far. And with it being playoff hockey, everyone was amped up and throwing series heat, including Makar, who rocked Mason Marchment with a reverse hit near the boards that rung his noggin.
Mikael Granlund heard the sound of hockey doom with 42 seconds left in the period when his quick wrister rattled off the post.
Third Period
A critical play went down with 13:12 left in the final period when Artturi Lehkonen was sent to the box for holding Todd Harley. Thus, Dallas went on the power play for the second time in the game while desperately needing a goal. It was up to Colorado’s defense to keep the puck away from the net. Were they successful? Absolutely. Dallas was held to just one shot on the power play.
Unfortunately, they went right back on the kill a few seconds later when MacKinnon was whistled for interference against Blackwell, who skated backwards right over MacKinnon’s stick and went down. On the subsequent play, Jamie Benn tied the game at one. From that point on, it was only a matter of time.
Colorado caught a break when Matt Duchene was busted for tripping Nichushkin, but they failed to convert on the power play.
The game came down to the wire, with both teams having their opportunities to break the tie. Ilya Lyubushkin drove the puck into the Colorado zone to try and get things going, but he was
With 39.5 seconds left in the game, Nelson was cut from a brutal high-stick from Mason Marchment, who was handed a four-minute double-minor. It was the second time in the game that Nelson was hurt. He took a big hit in the opening period as well, which shook him up.
Time expired with the score knotted up 1-1. And for the second straight playoff game, Dallas and Colorado went to overtime.
Overtime
The Avalanche shockingly failed to score on the double-minor power play, and the top line struggled to work together. MacKinnon and Makar failed to connect on a pass, and Makar mishandled the puck in another sequence. After Blackwood made a remarkable save, the Avs got another juicy opportunity when Oettinger was out of the net, but Artturi Lehkonen fanned on the shot.
Dallas, on the other hand, did not fan on the shot. Marchment set up Seguin, who beat Blackwood on a wrister from the right circle. And, of course, it was caused by a Colorado turnover. Now the series has been turned on its head.
Takeaways
The top six have been a mess this series. MacKinnon pouted for much of the overtime period, Makar hasn’t been himself, and we saw no sense of urgency tonight. None. You would think that with the return of Landeskog and the opportunity to take a 2-1 series lead on your home ice, there would be an incentive to play harder. Instead, we’re down 2-1, and if this team wants to win this series, we’re going to have to do it in Dallas.
Also, why did Jared Bednar take Nichushkin off the first power-play line? That’s a question for the head coach, but something needs to change quickly. The people are tired of losing to Dallas.
Next Game
Game 3 takes place Saturday at Ball Arena. Puck drop is at 7:30 local time.
