The Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars traded blows in an action-packed opening period, with Artturi Lehkonen opening the scoring for Colorado before Tyler Seguin answered late on the power play to send the teams into the first intermission tied 1-1.
Mackenzie Blackwood came up with several key saves to keep the Avalanche in front, but Dallas found its breakthrough in the closing minute to erase Colorado’s lead.
Just before the two-minute mark, Mackenzie Blackwood faced his first test when Oskar Beck wristed a shot from the slot that deflected off his glove.
At 7:23, Colin Blackwell charged toward the net, but Blackwood turned him away as well. The Avalanche netminder was off to a solid start.
Near the halfway point, Dallas captain Jamie Benn looked to set up Jason Robertson for a deflection in front before unleashing a slap shot from the point. Blackwood absorbed the shot off his chest protector to keep the Stars off the board.
Colorado struck first with 8:28 remaining in the period. Josh Manson’s point shot deflected off Nathan MacKinnon’s skate, and Artturi Lehkonen pounced on the rebound before lifting a backhand past Jake Oettinger to give the Avalanche a 1-0 lead.
Sam Malinski and Colin Blackwell were sent to the penalty box for roughing after a post-whistle scrum in front of the net. Blackwell took exception to an apparent slash from Malinski as he attempted to get a shot off on Blackwood, sparking the altercation and resulting in 4-on-4 play.
At the other end, Oettinger came up with a key save when Devon Toews broke free for a scoring opportunity, keeping the Avalanche from extending their lead.
Blackwood continued to stand tall, stopping a wrist shot from Stars forward Arttu Hyry as he drove through the offensive zone before denying him again on the rebound.
Late in the period, Fedor Svechkov dropped the gloves with Radek Faksa after Jaden Schwartz was caught by a hit he never saw coming. Svechkov received an additional two-minute instigator penalty and a 10-minute misconduct, giving Dallas a late power play.
The Stars capitalized with 53.8 seconds remaining. Tyler Seguin, who missed most of last season with a torn ACL, found space in the low slot, took a pass and fired a shot that deflected off Lehkonen and into the net. The power-play goal pulled Dallas even at 1-1 heading into the first intermission.