Makar and MacKinnon Spark Avs' Epic Comeback

Colorado’s stars delivered and Dallas’ did not.

Perhaps it was the comeback effort in November wherein the Avs overcame a three-goal deficit to defeat Dallas at home 6-3. Maybe it was the January game where the Avs trailed 3-1 and came back to win 5-4…

But the Colorado Avalanche provided yet another compelling reason to never count them out.

They met a well-constructed Dallas Stars team that just defeated their former Western Conference Final foe in a tight, hard-fought Game 7. The Stars finished first in the Central Division in the regular season and forced Colorado to come to them for round two.

After a little rest between rounds, the Avs needed to shake off the rust. It took a period, but they erased a 3-0 Dallas lead to take Game 1.

Colorado’s 32 goals in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs are the most in franchise history through the first six games.

Dallas’ Game Plan

Game 1 of the second round presented an interesting glimpse into strategy. Both teams could look to their opponent’s first round series for possible vulnerabilities and both sought to expose them.

“That’s a high-octane team over there,” said Matt Duchene. “It was a very different style game. We can do a better job throughout the 60 minutes, imposing our game on them with the puck.” 

In the first period, Tyler Seguin circled Josh Manson like a shark. Manson was at his blueline and Colorado had the puck up ice. A harmless reset to Manson was exactly Seguin’s plan of attack, hoping to ambush Manson and burst in off the rush. Manson staved him off and moved the play back up ice successfully, but it felt like a National Geographic episode watching Seguin salivate at the chance to catch the Avs off guard.

Another point of emphasis for Dallas was to limit Colorado’s strong possession game by clearing pucks quickly and finding exits. Like a clean-up crew, they swept pucks from their net and quickly cleared them to prevent the Avs from getting a second attempt.

On the other end, Dallas knew that their ability to contain the puck after an initial attempt would allow them to set the play. Put a guy at the netfront and shoot the puck from distance to screen Alexandar Georgiev and you get Dallas’ first goal.

Mikko Rantanen had the puck in his sights behind the goal line and let it slip away from him back into Dallas’ hands. Matt Duchene out-maneuvered Val Nichushkin along the wall and Ryan Suter settled the puck at the point and wristed it on net. Seguin was near the corner and knew the minute he saw the puck hit the half-wall opposite him to get to the crease. Sam Girard spotted him and tried to get to him, but Seguin was already inside.

Had Rantanen shown the same urgency as Dallas’ clean up crew to get that puck safely out of his end, there would be no second attempt.

Colorado had a response to their strategy – it just took some small adjustments and a little engine fuel.

“You can’t take a breath with these guys,” said Jamie Benn. “They are a great team and they come at you. They took over that second period, and then found a way to get one early in the third. We had our chances to win that game.”

Mikko Rantanen’s journey

Passivity on the first goal and two minor penalties against Rantanen made it a difficult first period. When one of your best players actively hurts the team, it adds insult to injury. Rantanen had more to give in the Winnipeg series and delivered in Game 5.

Rantanen did have a good backcheck in the second period when Sean Walker activated deep in Dallas’ end, Rantanen drew back and used his stick to stop Dallas’ progression when play moved back the other way.

Later in the third period, he was reliable defensively and helped the Avs to successfully exit with the puck. He protected the puck well and challenged Dallas in his end, using his size to his advantage. Two huge blocks stopped a burst from Evgenii Dadonov in the final seconds.

Comeback juice

Something about Colorado’s first period performance inspired hope despite being down three goals. The game didn’t feel out of reach even though they trailed in the shots battle. They were hitting and forcing turnovers. Dallas wasn’t impenetrable.

Their second period performance delivered reason to believe.

Colorado outshot Dallas 11-3 in the middle frame and held them 5-1 in high-danger opportunities.

Much like Dallas did in the Vegas series, the Stars made it hard for the Avs to use their speed through the neutral zone. Dallas corralled Colorado East-West to stunt their North-South game. The Avs really had to earn their zone time.

In the second period, a great sequence in the offensive zone ended with Nathan MacKinnon trying to out-maneuver Esa Lindell to gain inside ice. Lindell deftly used his stick to stop the play. Those skill plays are harder to pull off on this stage.

Colorado built good momentum from that sequence and Val Nichushkin drew a penalty on the next shift.

Nathan MacKinnnon isn’t above dumping the puck in. Though he’s known for his smooth, controlled entries using his skill and speed, MacKinnon recognized Colorado’s need to fight for their chances.

A dump-in followed by a swift retrieval and a seam pass from MacKinnon to Toews opposite him led to good possession and a great chance. The Avs didn’t need to abandon what they do best, they just needed to be willing to make some adjustments on the fly.

Pete DeBoer described the game as an important learning lesson. “They’ve got that quick-strike ability that you’ve got to mentally be sharp for 60 minutes in order to beat them,” he said.

“…When you look at the score sheet, their big guys delivered and are all over the score sheet.”

Pete DeBoer on Colorado

Stars that take over

Colorado’s experience is often discussed, but it’s important to qualify how that translates to their current game. It’s bigger than having a Cup to their name, but it’s not a coincidence that the players to turn the tide with impressive individual efforts have been there.

Both Cale Makar and Val Nichushkin drew penalties and scored on the subsequent powerplay.

Evgenii Dadonov slashed Nichushkin.

On the man-advantage, Makar faked like he was going to send the puck across the slot to MacKinnon and juked Wyatt Johnston to move around him and fire a shot on net from the bottom of the right-circle. Johnston was without a stick and Makar knew he could pull off the deception more effectively. Jake Oettinger made the initial stop, but Nichushkin tracked the loose puck at the crease and tapped in the rebound.

Nichushkin has found the back of the net in six straight games. He surpassed Michel Goulet (1985) for the longest  goal streak to begin a playoff series in Avs/Nordiques history. His six-game goal streak is one shy of the longest overall goal streak in franchise history (Lemieux – 1997, Sakic – 1996). 

Then Craig Smith took a hooking penalty against Makar.

Rantanen received the pass to enter Dallas’ end and made the cross-ice pass to Nichushkin opposite him. Nichushkin held the puck along the wall in search of the perfect play and found Makar in the high slot. Makar wristed it bar-down to bring the Avs within one goal.

Makar is tied for the NHL-lead among all skaters with 12 points and has 19 career postseason goals which surpassed Sandis Ozolinsh (18) for the most by any Avs/ Nordiques defenseman.

The tying goal came from none other than their own Hart finalist amidst his ongoing career year.

Just 39 seconds into the third period, Makar weathered some contact but protected the puck and sent it toward the net. It bounced off Rantanen’s body right to MacKinnon lurking behind him. MacKinnon snapped the puck to the back of the net.

Colorado’s stars had their fingerprints all over this game and more importantly its comeback.

The Village

In addition to the top-end support, other players found a way to neutralize their mistakes with moments that led them to victory.

Alexandar Georgiev was nails in the final seconds of the third period and overtime. Dallas controlled almost ten minutes of play until Colorado struck gold. Georgiev stopped two huge Tyler Seguin chances back-to-back and blocked Johnston’s wrister in a burst from Dallas.

He made 19 saves on 22 shots and stopped six of eight Grade-A opportunities.

Josh Manson provided a huge assist in the second period: Jamie Benn attempted to mail a backdoor chance, but Manson swooped into the crease and made the stop with his stick at the last second. Manson lifted it away from the net to preserve Colorado’s comeback efforts.

And finally, Miles Wood netted his first career overtime winner. He already has three goals in these playoffs – a new personal best. He took an inopportune high-sticking penalty in the second period, but he erased it with his overtime heroics.

He used his foot speed to beat Miro Heiskanen to the net on breakaway and backhanded the puck off the post. Jake Oettinger pulled out to the top of the crease to confront Wood and couldn’t get his pad to seal the post in time.

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Dallas had strong moments in Game 1: they controlled the first period and most of overtime. It’s a best of seven for a reason and Colorado will have their work cut out for them. As long as they continue to work for their chances and make Dallas fight for theirs, Colorado’s stars can be too much for anyone to handle.