Avalanche franchise-best point streak comes to an end versus Dallas Stars

I always dread covering games against the Dallas Stars. They and the Colorado Avalanche have had a sneaky little rivalry that goes back to the late 90s/early 2000s when the Stars beat the Avalanche in back-to-back Western Conference Final Game 7s.

I don’t dread the games because I have flashbacks to those conference finals matchups though, I dread them because the games are just weird. Almost 100% of the time. Weird stuff just happens, the scores are never that out of the ordinary or lopsided, it’s usually just messy games with 10 different events that make you say “Are you kidding me?”

Think back to that second round bubble series. The Avs and Stars went seven games, and all seven of them were just bizarre. We saw injuries, lead swings, runs of 3-4 goals in just a matter of minutes, comebacks.. hell, we saw a third-string goalie win two games!

Tonight was no different, as the Avs looked like the better team for pretty much the full 60 minutes tonight, but finally saw their nearly 20-game point streak come to an end at the hands of the Dallas stars 4-1 on Tuesday night.

Well, I guess it technically was different from the playoff series, things didn’t get THAT crazy tonight in Denver, but the game lacked flow and for the Avs specifically, it just didn’t have that same “we’re gonna will ourselves to a win” energy.

Head coach Jared Bednar said this morning that they were expecting a motivated Dallas Stars team, one that was looking to avoid getting embarrassed by the Avalanche for the second time in as many games. To be honest though, and part of what made this game kind of odd, I didn’t think the Stars came out with the energy and jumped I was expecting.

The Avs were all over Dallas early in the first, running the shots up to 10-0 at one point, but were unable to get one by Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger. The Stars pushed back enough to get some sustained zone pressure, which led to Nazem Kadri accidentally shooting the puck over the glass while trying to clear the zone, thus sending Dallas to the power play.

We’ve all seen this movie before; control the majority of the play, let your opponent hang around, and eventually give them a chance to cash in. Which is exactly what Joe Pavelski did. Yup, definitely seen THAT movie about 40 times.

Ok, so you feel like you controlled the majority of the play, and you’re only down by one, not a terrible position to be in, especially given what we’ve seen the Avs be capable of during this ridiculous stretch dating back to December 1st, but keep in mind, this is Colorado vs Dallas, we were just getting started with the “are you kidding me?” moments.

The second period really kind of started the same way the first period went, with Colorado being the aggressor on most shifts but failing to capitalize. Then just under 5 minutes into the middle frame the Stars dumped a puck into the corner and Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz left the net to attempt to make a play on the puck, and the puck just died right outside the trapezoid behind the net. 

I felt for Frankie on that one, I mean the puck literally just stopped about three inches from where he was legally allowed to play it and really put him in a tough spot. He tried to scramble back into position, but it just wasn’t enough as Dallas’ Jason Robertson collected a pass from none other than Joe Pavelski and punched it into a mostly open net.

“It slowed down quickly, and stayed in the corner of that zone where I can’t play it,” Francouz said postgame. “I was trying to get back, that was totally my fault. That’s on me.”

It was an odd moment in the game I thought. At 5-on-5, the Avs had steadily controlled play, they were moving well, and they were getting quality looks on Oettinger. Yet, they were down 2-0. This is the type of moment we’ve seen the Avs push back in all year long. Where they make the adjustment and take over. Problem was, I don’t know if there was an adjustment to be made. The Avs were playing, for the most part and aside from a couple mental mistakes, pretty well.

The only thing they were missing was getting a puck by Jake Oettinger, and unfortunately for the Avs, Oettinger was absolutely dialed in from the opening puck drop. Oettinger is still trying to figure out exactly who he is in this league. He’s just 23-years-old, he’s spent parts of the last three seasons in the American Hockey League, and he’s trying to prove that he can stick in the NHL as a #1 goaltender. 

“I just want to show I can play with anyone,” Oettinger said after making 46 saves. “I feel that personally, and the people around me think that I can play with the best, and I just want to keep showing that.”

He certainly showed he’s capable tonight. 

The lone blemish on Dallas’s net minder came less than a minute after Robertson had extended the lead to 2-0, when Nathan MacKinnon dashed into the zone, threw a nice little head/shoulder fake out high before slipping one five hole for his 10th of the season. 

It was now 2-1 and the goal really seemed to put the Avs into another gear. They ramped up their pace enough that you felt like there was a chance they could get it tied, and suddenly find themselves in the position they probably deserved to be in from a scoreboard perspective.

When the Avalanche get rolling like that, so far this season it seems like there’s only one thing that can truly stop them… too many men on the ice.

That’s right, maybe the most talked-about penalty the Avs have taken this year reared its ugly head again and put the aforementioned Avalanche-killer Joe Pavelski in position to leave yet another mark on this game, and you guessed it, he did. Not without some controversy, however. 

Off the ensuing face-off after the penalty was called, Erik Johnson flashed out to the top of the zone attempting to get to a loose puck, leaving only Devon Toews down low. EJ was too slow to get back and didn’t communicate with his fellow penalty killers to cover back, leaving Pavelski alone in front to get a whack at a puck that, according to Jared Bednar and Pavel Francouz, was not eligible to be whacked at.

“I was there sitting in my butterfly, and he runs in to my pad and got me totally off balance and then put the puck into the net,” Francouz said. “If this isn’t goalie interference, I don’t know what is goalie interference.”

It was tough to tell for sure what happened on the couple replay looks we got in-arena, but Frankie was pretty adamant in what he thought happened, and I always defer to the person who has the most information to know what’s going on. I’m not here to say whether Francouz was right or wrong, but in my experience, if someone is that convinced of what they saw/experienced, there’s usually some truth to it.

That goal really kind of felt like the game. Just with the way games typically go against Dallas, you knew the Avs weren’t going to get a break, and Jake Oettinger just looked way too locked in. 

The third period was a home-run derby for the Avalanche in terms of shots on goal, but the story stayed the same. Great looks, no goals. Certainly not for a lack of trying though.

Tyler Seguin would hit the empty net with just under 90 seconds remaining to put things away and end the Avs’ 19-game point streak. 

I think Jared Bednar put it best after the game. “Well they all sting, but I can’t sit here and say that we played poorly, you know what I mean? It’s a fine line between winning and losing every night,” he said. “If I didn’t like our game, I’d be more upset than I am. I always say it, I’m not gonna judge our team on just results, it’s about the process and the way we play”.

I think that’s a good note to leave it on, as I think that mentality plays such a massive part in the success this team has found this season. Just because you win does’t mean you played well, in the same way that a loss doesn’t mean the world is ending. 

You knew the streak would end eventually, now the Avalanche need to focus on getting as much rest as possible, and get geared up for a National TV showdown with Jack Eichel and the Vegas Golden Knights tomorrow night from the Las Vegas Strip.