Sloppy first period costs Avalanche, lose 3-2 in Dallas

HIGHLIGHTS

GAME RUNDOWN

The game started out slowly with neither the Colorado Avalanche nor Dallas Stars getting any solid scoring chances. Dallas finally cracked the seal, however, at just under nine minutes into the first period. Unfortunately for the Avalanche, Johnny Oduya’s shot, headed wide, hit Tyson Barrie in the knee and banked into the net past Semyon Varlamov. Frustration got the best of Nikita Zadorov as, immediately after the goal, he gave the Stars a power play due to an ill-timed hooking penalty. What looked to be an easy kill ended with a goal for Dallas as Brett Ritchie sniped one home from the slot, putting his team up 2-0 halfway through the opening frame.

Penalties continued to haunt the Avalanche with Cody McLeod going to the box for slashing Devin Shore with only 46 seconds left in the period. The Stars, once again, converted on the man advantage, this time coming off a beautiful tic-tac-toe which began from behind the Avalanche net. Jason Spezza snapped a pass up to Tyler Seguin, who was sitting just inside the blueline, who, in turn, slid the puck over to Patrick Eaves to set up a perfectly-placed wrister that beat Varlamov glove side. The goal put Dallas up 3-0 going into the first intermission.

Colorado’s possession numbers improved dramatically over the first five minutes of the middle period, and the frustration of not scoring showed clearly on players’ faces, no more so than Nathan MacKinnon. It did not help when he was robbed by the pad of a sprawling Kari Lehtonen halfway through the period. It only made him more determined, though, as he notched a short-handed goal while his team was killing a delay of game penalty. Andreas Martinsen did the heavy lifting for that goal, battling for possession through the offensive zone before sending a pass across the crease where MacKinnon was waiting to slip the puck into an empty corner of the net.

The Avalanche continued to pressure the Stars for the rest of the period, outshooting Dallas in the second 15-10. Despite the barrage, Lehtonen made the tough saves to preserve the 3-1 Dallas lead going into the third period.

Colorado got right back into that offensive stride when the puck dropped on the third period. Not even two minutes had passed before the Stars’s lead was cut to one. AJ Greer nabbed his first NHL point with a secondary assist, sliding the puck up top to MacKinnon who corralled it and threw a hard shot on net. Mikhail Grigorenko got a tip on it to redirect it past Lehtonen.

The Avalanche onslaught kept pouring into the Dallas zone, and Lehtonen kept denying the equalizer, including a larcenous save against, of course, MacKinnon. Despite the pressure, Colorado just couldn’t convert, and making matters worse, Zadorov took his third penalty of the night with 2:07 left in the game. The Avalanche fought hard for the tying goal, but they just could not solve Lehtonen, leaving Dallas with a 3-2 loss despite sending 35 shots on net.

THREE STARS

1. Kari Lehtonen (24 saves)
2. Nathan MacKinnon (1g, 1a)
3. Patrick Eaves (GWG)

PLAY OF THE GAME

Not much gets the blood pumping more than watching a hard-won goal, and that’s exactly what Andreas Martinsen and Nathan MacKinnon served up during the second period for Colorado’s first goal of the game.

TURNING POINT

The Avalanche came out stronger in the second, but it was a series of scrambling saves by Semyon Varlamov that seemed to light a fire under the team. Colorado’s shots and, as a result, possession increased significantly, tilting the ice for the remainder of the game.

BY THE NUMBERS

WHAT’S NEXT

The Avalanche head to Minnesota for another November tilt against the Wild, the first of which ended in a 1-0 victory for Colorado. Make no mistake, these teams despise one another and will be fighting tooth and nail for this victory. Game starts at 6:00 pm MT.