The Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars opened their best-of-seven second round series on Saturday night, and the game certainly did not disappoint.
It didn’t take long to find offense in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinal matchup between the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars. Four minutes into the contest Tyler Seguin got the scoring started, as he put home a nice pass from Jamie Benn to give the Stars an early 1-0 lead.
It was the perfect start for the Stars, because not only did it give them confidence offensively, but it got their best players rolling early. However, it was short-lived, as Nathan MacKinnon did what he does and got the Avs back to even with a perfectly placed shot.
The scoring wasn’t done there, though. Dallas went back on top when a Blake Comeau shot deflected off an Avalanche defenseman and in. The Stars tacked on another marker late in the period, courtesy of Alexander Radulov. Again, it was Benn making a great play to start the scoring chance and collecting his second helper of the game.
More from Puck Prose
- Detroit Red Wings 2023 Rookie Camp Has Plenty of Ups and Downs
- This Columbus Blue Jackets rookie doesn’t want to be forgotten
- 2 trades the Boston Bruins must make to secure the Stanley Cup
- 3 reasons the Avalanche won’t win the Stanley Cup in 2024
- This is a big year for Alex Turcotte and the Los Angeles Kings
It was a great first period for the Stars, because the top players were able to start fast and get into a groove. Goaltender Anton Khudobin was also able to build some confidence, as he stopped 12 of 13 shots from a lethal Avalanche offense.
As the second period got underway, the early stages provided a whirlwind of emotions for Colorado. First, goaltender Philipp Grubauer went down with an injury and had to leave the game, forcing Pavel Francouz to enter. Moments later, though, captain Gabriel Landeskog stuffed the puck past Khudobin to cut the Dallas lead to 3-2.
That only lasted minutes before Radulov scored his second of the night. That came as the Stars were outshooting the Avs 12-3 through the first ten minutes of the second period. Later in the frame, Nathan MacKinnon redirected a shot from Samuel Girard to again close the gap. The score remained 4-3 after the second period.
Down by a goal, the Avalanche fired the first five shots on net in the third period. That didn’t stop Roope Hintz, though, from extending the Stars’ lead to two goals on only the second shot of the period for his team. This time, Dallas would not surrender its two goal advantage. The Stars blocked five shots in the final two and a half minutes to help secure the 5-3 victory.
Dallas was led all game by its top line (Benn, Radulov, and Seguin), which combined for eight points (three goals and five assists). In net, Khudobin stepped up and saved 28 out of 31 shots he faced to help his team contain Colorado.
The Avalanche saw its top line of MacKinnon, Landeskog, and Mikko Rantanen perform at its usual high level (six points, 15 shots, and plus-6 rating), but the players behind it struggled. Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky, two of Colorado’s best players against the Arizona Coyotes, combined for two shots and a minus-4 rating.
Game 1 was really well executed by the Stars, and it was exactly the type of game that Dallas needed to come out of on top. It featured scoring from its big guns, a strong performance in goal, and enough goals to outscore the high flying Colorado attack. Had Dallas lost this game, I would have felt that they missed a big opportunity and would be in serious trouble.
As it stands though, the Stars played Game 1 close to perfectly and were rewarded with a 1-0 series lead. The Avalanche will need to tighten up the defense in Game 2, while also finding ways to get its depth players more involved.