Defeating the same team on consecutive nights is no easy feat, especially when you’re going head-to-head with another powerhouse Central Division rival.
The Colorado Avalanche couldn’t quite secure a win against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night at Ball Arena. They defeated them in Dallas the previous night but managed to collect a point at home. In the end, the Stars won 3-2 in a shootout.
Gabe Landeskog and Brock Nelson scored for the Avs. They also got a lone shootout tally from Nazem Kadri on four attempts. The Avs fell to 4-2-1 on the season and 2-1-1 against the Central Division.
They collected three of four points in two nights and surrendered two to the Stars.
“Every time we play these guys, it’s a close game,” head coach Jared Bednar said. “It’s a hard-fought game, and yeah, ends up in a shootout, and we just came up a little bit short. But overall effort from our guys two nights in a row was pretty solid.”
Dallas had goals from Miro Heiskanen at even strength and Arttu Hyry shorthanded. The Stars went 2-for-4 in the shootout, with both Jason Robertson and Roope Hintz beating goalie Scott Wedgewood.
It was the third shorthanded goal the Avalanche have surrendered in seven games, tying them with the Vancouver Canucks for the most in the NHL.
“We want to try and nip some things in the bud and make sure we’re improving on a daily basis in every area of our game, including power play,” Bednar said.
The Avalanche had two goals called back before the first period was halfway through. Less than two minutes in, the third line combined for a spectacular tic-tac-toe play that went from T.J. Hughes to Fedor Svechkov to Jaden Schwartz, who went to the backhand and put it past goalie Casey DeSmith. The Stars challenged the entry for offside, and the challenge was successful. Hughes was across the line before Schwartz carried the puck in.
The Avs didn’t let it bother them. They kept attacking after killing off a penalty and eventually drew one of their own. With Jamie Benn in the box, Colorado didn’t do much with its two minutes on the man advantage. But just as Benn re-entered the game, a Schwartz one-timer from the right circle bounced off Landeskog and trickled in.
There was no coach’s challenge on that one, but there was a league-imposed review to determine whether Landeskog had kicked the puck in. This review lasted much longer than the first one and eventually ended with another goal wiped off the board.
“If you watch it in real speed, there’s no chance I can react to that and kick that, but the guys in Toronto make the call,” Landeskog said. “Not the first time they take one away, and probably not the last one. It’s okay.”
The first period ended scoreless, with the two clubs combining for 9:44 of power-play time.
In the second, the Avs eventually drew first blood. It was another play that bounced in off Landeskog, who scored his second goal of the season. But the play started with a great keep at the blue line by Sam Malinski. He was able to hold the puck in the zone when a Dallas player attempted a clear. He sent it to Kadri, who shot it in off Landeskog to make it 1-0 at 4:55.
Colorado carried that lead for well over 10 minutes, but the Stars responded at 15:03. Mikko Rantanen fended off Landeskog before sending a slick cross-ice pass to Heiskanen. Dallas’ top blueliner fired it past Wedgewood for his third goal of the season.
Just as the third period began, Rantanen was called for tripping. The Avs, who were 0-for-3 on the power play, had another chance to break through. They not only failed to set up or create any dangerous looks but also gave up a shorthanded breakaway goal to Arttu Hyry. Again, it happened with the top unit on the ice.
The Avalanche failed to do anything with the remainder of the power play. Moments later, Gavin Brindley, making his season debut, fired a shot that hit the crossbar behind DeSmith and came back out. Brindley thought he had scored for a moment before continuing his shift. On the very next play, Kadri hit one off the post and was in disbelief when the puck bounced out the other side. The Avs seemingly had no puck luck.
Until they did.
At 8:21, Nelson found the back of the net after the puck hit Thomas Harley in front and landed on his stick with an open net to shoot at. The play started on Makar’s stick at the point. He found Kadri, who set up Lehkonen for the one-timer that Harley blocked. At that point, it was tied 2-2, with the shots on goal even at 20-20. It was anybody’s game.
Lehkonen and Fedor Svechkov each had a good look before the end of regulation but were stopped by DeSmith. The Stars netminder made 25 saves, while Wedgewood stopped 20.
Good: Fought for a Point
As I said earlier, it felt like the Avalanche didn’t have any puck luck. The goals that were called back, the shots off the crossbar and post. Nothing was really going their way.
Until it did with the Nelson goal. They worked for that one and secured a point they probably wouldn’t have gotten had it not been for that sequence.
I really am a firm believer that defeating the same team on consecutive nights is a tough task. To be able to get that third point is big. It still would’ve been nice to see them close it out. Or not let in a second goal that was as self inflicted as they come.
Bad: Shorthanded Issues Continue
There isn’t much to be said about this that hasn’t already been said.
The Avalanche can’t figure out the power play, and it feels like they, again, need to try something entirely different. I’m starting to question whether Makar makes sense on the top unit and whether he needs more coaching to be the guy up there. The power play should run through him, but it feels like his confidence in shooting the puck has faded more and more with each passing year.
We’ve all seen the rumors and reports about Dave Hakstol’s departure and his replacement being Brett McLean. This sounds like it’s going to happen as early as Thursday. I don’t know much about McLean’s background or how he runs power plays, but a new voice couldn’t be worse than what they have now. We’ll see if he can crack the code.
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