Tonight, the Colorado Avalanche took on the Dallas Stars for the second night of a back-to-back, and ultimately lost 3-2 in a shootout. It was a wild ride which saw two Avalanche goals called back, another shorthanded goal given up and another game against Dallas decided in a shootout.
Let’s take a look at all the action from tonight.
First Period
It initially looked like Colorado had scored at two different points, but one goal was called back due to being offside, and the other one was called back for the puck being kicked into the back of the net. Jaden Schwartz converted on another beautiful setup from Fedor Svechkov but it didn’t count, then the refs decided Gabe Landeskog kicked the puck. Therefore the first period would end in a scoreless tie and the Avalanche held a slight 9-7 shot advantage.
Second Period
After the first intermission the Avs finally got on the board (officially), with a goal that counted from Landeskog, who was able to put a great tip on the puck to deflect it past Dallas netminder Casey DeSmith for the 1-0 lead.
That was not all the scoring as Dallas would tie the game at 1-1 late into the second period, with a shot from Miro Heiskanen who was completely uncovered and beat Scott Wedgewood cleanly. Thus, setting up a big third period to come.
Third Period
The Avalanche had four power play chances in this game but Stars would take the lead early into the third period with a breakaway short-handed goal from Arttu Hyry, making it 2-1 in Dallas’ favor.
Brock Nelson was able to tie it up in regulation, as he was able to find the puck right near the goal, and put it past DeSmith to make it 2-2, and we would head to overtime after that.
Overtime & Shootout
Neither team would ultimately score in overtime with it being incredibly low event and the Stars getting the only shot on goal in the five minute period. Therefore a shootout was needed. First Jason Robertson converted on Scott Wedgewood but Nazem Kadri tied it up. Nathan MacKinnon couldn’t score as the last shooter in the third round but then Roope Hintz was able to get one in the fourth round and Dallas would take this game in the shootout by a score of 3-2.
Takeaways
Honestly, after a frustrating game (to say the least) like this, I’ll more than happily take a point. Coming out of a back-to-back with 3/4 points is good work, in my opinion, and if you were to tell me that would be the outcome at the beginning of this back-to-back, I would have been more than happy to hear that. Now, that doesn’t change that there were still some frustrations during the game, despite the overall outcome. Obviously, the two overturned goals were frustrating, and the special teams were also incredibly frustrating to watch tonight.
Giving up a shorthanded goal is not at all what you want to see, and yes, it’s early in the season; we’re at game seven right now, but I feel like something still needs to be done, and quickly considering that was the third shorthanded goal given up already. We were in this boat last season watching the power play, and we’re already back here early in the season. On a much more positive side, this was a game where the second line looked really solid; obviously, Landeskog had the first goal of the game, and Nelson was the one to tie the game up in the third period after the Stars scored a shorthanded goal. There was a ton of line blending as Bednar continues to try and find a top six mix that can consistently generate offense.
For those keeping tabs on the roster, Cale Makar did play after his wife delivered twin boys this morning. Nic Roy was a surprise scratch and the team said he’s healing with a lower-body injury. Zach L’Heureux is also still out with an upper-body injury. Gavin Brindley was recalled and the Avalanche still only had 11 forwards to dress. More roster news should be forthcoming in the coming days,
Upcoming
Next, the Avalanche welcome the Pittsburgh Penguins to town on Friday, October 16. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. MT.