Colorado Avalanche survive wild third period to win Game 3

The Colorado Avalanche desperately needed a win in Game 3 of its Western Conference Semifinal series. Despite the Dallas Stars’ third period surge, the Avs were able to cut the series deficit in half.

Game 3 began with a barrage of hits and blocked shots. The Colorado Avalanche racked up 15 hits before the first media timeout, while the Stars managed to record more blocked shots than the Avs had shots on goal in the first half of the opening frame.

For most of the period, neither team gave the other much room to operate, as there were a combined 47 hits and 14 blocks. The few chances that did occur early seemed to favor the Stars, and that was best exemplified by Tyler Seguin‘s lone goal of the period, which gave Dallas a 1-0 lead.

The later stages of the period featured some life from the Colorado offense, as it ultimately led in the shot department 12-10. Stars goalie Anton Khudobin stood tall, however, and preserved his team’s lead at the end of the first.

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The momentum carried into the second period for the Avalanche, though, and in only 60 seconds the game was tied at one, thanks to a blast from Nikita Zadorov. The goal to start the period was accompanied by several more hits and a successful penalty kill for the Avs.

Not long after the Dallas power play came up empty, the Avalanche earned their first lead of the game on a goal by Andre Burakovsky. From there, both teams got their looks at the net, but the Avalanche seemed to have regained a swagger that had been missing since the Stars’ Game 2 comeback began.

That swagger turned into Colorado’s third goal of the period, this time from the captain, Gabriel Landeskog. The play was started by some terrific skating by defenseman Cale Makar, and it ended with the Avalanche taking a 3-1 lead. Landeskog made a strong play as well by out-muscling Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen to get to a loose puck.

The only real strength in the period for Dallas was the penalty kill. The Avalanche certainly got opportunities with the man advantage, especially on their final chance of the period, but the Stars managed to only allow two shots to get through to Khudobin on three Colorado power plays. The Avs were 0/3 through two periods, and it helped keep the Stars’ deficit at two.

The strength through two periods for the Avalanche was goaltender Pavel Francouz. The 30-year-old, starting his second game in a row after starter Philipp Grubauer was injured early in the series, saved 20 of 21 shots he faced to that point. He continued his great play by stopping another seven shots early in the third to help Colorado kill two Stars penalties.

Then, the madness ensued. It only took seconds upon the conclusion of the second Dallas power play of the period for Stars forward Denis Gurianov to get his club within one goal. Gurianov’s goal, along with the pair of power play chances, gave the Stars the life they needed to climb back into this game.

That climb continued as Blake Comeau knotted things up with just under 11 minutes to go in regulation. Only a couple of minutes later, a shot by Esa Lindell  deflected off of Stars captain Jamie Benn, giving Dallas a 4-3 advantage.

Just when it looked like Game 3 was going to be the same story as Game 2, Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen hooked up for the equalizer, 1:15 after the Stars took the lead. The goal was unbelievably important for Colorado, not only because it evened the score, but because Dallas seemingly had all the momentum.

It was also big for the Avs because soon after the fourth goal was scored, Colorado’s fifth goal was scored, thanks to a redirect by Nazem Kadri on a shot by Kevin Connauton. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare added an empty net goal to extend the lead to 6-4, which ended up being the final.

This win is huge for the Avalanche for several reasons. First, it kept the team out of a 3-0 series hole, which could have been insurmountable. Second, it gives the offense some confidence, as the Avs had only mustered five goals in the first two games combined. Finally, it saw Nazem Kadri get involved (one goal and one assist) after being fairly quiet in the first two contests.

Kadri was one of five Avalanche players to record two or more points in the game. Cale Makar led the team with three points (all assists). For Dallas, only Jamie Benn recorded a multi-point effort. The Avalanche will look to even the series in Game 4, while the Stars will take their second crack at pushing Colorado to the brink of elimination.