Martin Necas has 2 goals to lead the short-handed Avs past the Stars, 3-2

DALLAS (AP) — Martin Necas scored two goals, including a 5-on-3 score, and the short-handed Colorado Avalanche beat the Dallas Stars 3-2 on Tuesday night in the opener of a home-and-home series.

Artturi Lehkonen also scored for the Avalanche, while Mackenzie Blackwood made 24 saves after allowing five goals on Saturday against Toronto. Nathan MacKinnon had two assists, giving him 12 points.

The Avalanche opened with 11 forwards and six defensemen when forward Zachary L’Heureux was a late scratch with an upper-body injury. Colorado then played almost 17 minutes with 10 forwards when Fedor Svechkov drew a two-minute instigator penalty, five minutes for fighting and 10 more for misconduct. MacKinnon was also off the bench for more than seven minutes in the second after he fought Roope Hintz — who had his first NHL fight — and went to the locker room for facial repairs.

Tyler Seguin had a goal and an assist, and Hintz also scored for the Stars. Jake Oettinger stopped 22 shots after allowing three goals in his previous four games, and Miro Heiskanen had two assists.

Colorado came in leading the NHL with 5.2 goals per game, while Dallas had a league-best 1.38 goals-against average.

Necas gave the Avs a 2-1 lead early in the second period and then doubled the lead with four seconds left in the 29-second, two-man advantage.

Seguin’s goal, tying the score late in the first period, was Dallas’ first home power-play goal in eight tries.

Cale Makar, the Avalanche’s two-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman, didn’t make the trip with his wife expecting twins.

Stars forward Wyatt Johnston sat out with an illness after playing in all 395 games, regular season and playoffs, since he made the team in 2022. The Stars played with 11 forwards and seven defensemen.

Up next

The teams will meet again on Wednesday in Denver, where the Stars swept two meetings last season in shootouts.

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