Even though the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars didn’t meet in the 2026 postseason, there was no shortage of animosity, or love lost, when the Central Division rivals faced off Tuesday. The two powerhouse clubs put on an entertaining show, complete with two fights, including Nathan MacKinnon dropping the gloves with Roope Hintz.
In the end, the Avalanche came out on top, 3-2, behind two goals from Martin Necas and another from Artturi Lehkonen. Arguably Colorado’s best performance came from goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, who bounced back with 24 saves on the road at American Airlines Center.
The Avs were also without Cale Makar, who left the team to be with his wife, Tracy, as they awaited the birth of their twin children. Colorado was further shorthanded after Zachary L’Heureux became a late scratch with an upper-body injury. Noah Juulsen drew into the lineup for Makar, but the Avs didn’t have another forward available to enter the game.
On the Dallas side, Wyatt Johnston missed the game due to an illness. It was the first game he had missed in his NHL career.
Did you get all that?
Now, let’s get to the recap.
The Avs drew first blood and never trailed. MacKinnon set up Lehkonen for his fourth goal of the season to give Colorado a 1-0 lead. The Avs carried that advantage into the later stages of the first period before Tyler Seguin tied the game on the power play at 19:06.
Dallas got its only power play of the night after Fedor Svechkov received an instigator penalty and a 10-minute misconduct following his first career fight. Svechkov dropped the gloves with Radek Faksa, who had earlier delivered an open-ice hit on Jaden Schwartz that the officials deemed clean.
It didn’t take long for Colorado to regain the lead. At 3:05 of the second period, Necas carried the puck into the offensive zone and fought off defenseman Thomas Harley. He then made a move to get around Colin Blackwell before dropping the puck to MacKinnon. The Avs’ top center quickly fed it back to Necas, who buried a one-timer into the top corner past Jake Oettinger.
The highlight of the night followed shortly after.
MacKinnon dropped the gloves for the second time in two weeks, this time against Hintz. The two went at each other for several seconds before dropping their gloves and trading punches. Few connected cleanly, but Hintz caught MacKinnon in the nose, sending the Avs star to the locker room bloodied and in need of repairs. MacKinnon eventually took Hintz down before the officials separated them.
With a one-goal lead, Colorado leaned on Blackwood to make several big saves in the second period. He bailed out Sam Malinski after a giveaway on the power play left a penalty killer with a scoring opportunity. Blackwood also came up with a key stop following a Josh Manson giveaway behind the net. It was a night-and-day difference from his outing three nights earlier, when he allowed three goals on four shots.
The Avs extended their lead on a two-man advantage. MacKinnon fed Devon Toews at the point, and the defenseman put the puck on net. Captain Gabe Landeskog collected the rebound and sent it across to Necas, who finished into the open net for his second goal of the night.
Dallas managed to cut the deficit to one in the third period, but that was all the Stars could muster. Colorado spent the remainder of the game playing shutdown hockey, holding Dallas without a shot on goal for more than 11 minutes and just three in the third period.
Jared Bednar didn’t mince words Saturday night when asked about Blackwood’s performance against Toronto. The Avalanche head coach said his goalie needed to make some saves, even with several high-danger chances against him.
Blackwood struggled against the Maple Leafs, and with the Avs expected to split the back-to-back between him and backup Scott Wedgewood, Bednar gave Blackwood another opportunity Tuesday in Dallas. It was a challenging spot for the goali,e given his lack his success at American Airlines Center in the past.
Blackwood responded in a big way. He was arguably Colorado’s player of the game, and the Avs likely don’t win a one-goal game in regulation without him. He had to match Oettinger save for save, and he did just that.
After his difficult outing against Toronto, this was exactly the response Colorado needed from its starting goalie.
When MacKinnon fought Brandt Clarke on opening night, Bednar reiterated a familiar message after the game, one he often shared with media after past MacKinnon tussles.
He doesn’t want to see his superstar center get hurt in a fight.
MacKinnon fared well against Clarke. Honestly, he held his own against Hintz, too, aside from the punch that caught him square in the face. But the Avs can’t afford to have MacKinnon fighting this frequently.
The opening-night fight felt like a carryover from the postseason and several frustrating games against Clarke. Tuesday’s fight had its own history. MacKinnon ended Hintz’s season last March, and the Stars’ top center wanted a measure of revenge.
Given that the two were already going at each other during play, the fight wasn’t entirely surprising. Still, this can’t become a regular occurrence every couple of weeks. MacKinnon can hold his own — we know this. But Colorado can’t risk losing its best player to an injury sustained in a fight.
Leave that to Manson, Landeskog, Nazem Kadri or one of the many depth forwards willing to drop the gloves. The Avs have plenty of players who can handle that side of the game. MacKinnon is far too important to the team’s success to keep putting himself at risk.
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