Dallas Stars use special teams to take commanding 3-1 series lead

Led by three power play goals, the Dallas Stars held off the Colorado Avalanche in Game 4.

The first period of Game 4 felt like a battle for space between the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars. Hits were abundant early, and attempts at offense were met with suffocating defense at both ends. It wasn’t until the first six minutes had passed that a goalie even had to make a save.

It was Pavel Francouz of the Avalanche that was finally tested, but it was John Klingberg that made it a 1-0 game for the Stars. Shortly after that first goal, Dallas struck again, this time on the power play, and this time from Radek Faksa. Both goals came off of rebounds on shots that were handled poorly by Francouz.

Another Colorado penalty moments later led to yet another goal, as the Stars continued a first period onslaught. Jamie Benn drew the penalty and scored the goal, as his team built a 9-0 advantage in shots and a 3-0 edge on the scoreboard.

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The Avalanche looked uninterested for the majority of the period. Zone entries were ineffective, power plays were sloppy, and the offense was nonexistent. It even took 18:26 to register a shot on goal. The end of the period was the only bright spot, as the Avs recorded four shots late in the frame.

That momentum carried over into the second period, and Colorado had the shot totals for the game evened up prior to the halfway point. The Avalanche even overtook the Stars in terms of shots, but Anton Khudobin continued to keep the score at 3-0.

It wasn’t until the later stages of the period that that changed. Colorado successfully killed a Dallas power play, earned some zone time, and got on the board thanks to former Star Valeri Nichushkin. It took 19 shots to solve Khudobin, but the Avs finally found the result they were looking for.

Colorado caught its next break in the final minute of the second period, when Jamie Oleksiak and Blake Comeau both took penalties on the same play for the Stars, giving the Avalanche a full two minutes with a two man advantage.

With that five-on-three, it took only seconds for Cale Makar to bury a one-timer and trim the deficit to one goal. The pass came from superstar Nathan MacKinnon, who extended his point streak to the first 12 games of this postseason. The last time a player accomplished that feat was in 2010 when Johan Franzen did it for the Detroit Red Wings.

Also worth nothing is that Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar called his timeout prior to the start of the power play. Personally, I was weary of the timing, as the intermission was less than 40 seconds away, but credit to him for using it effectively.

Colorado was unable to cash in on the remaining power play time to start the third period, but it did generate momentum. The Avalanche registered the first seven shots of the period, extending their shot advantage to 29-18, after conceding the first ten of the game.

The Stars did manage to draw a penalty amid the Colorado pressure, and it was exactly what they needed to get their heads back in the game. After firing six shots in 1:58 of power play time, Roope Hintz launched a seventh shot and extended the lead to 4-2.

About 30 seconds later, Denis Gurianov restored the Stars’ three goal lead. That prompted Michael Hutchinson to enter the Colorado goal, replacing Francouz, who allowed five goals on 26 shots.

Colorado got what it needed a few minutes later, when Nichushkin scored his second goal of the game to make it 5-3. Given the firepower the Avalanche possess, and the wild nature of this series, that goal certainly had the potential to give the Avs some life.

It did just that, as most of period from there was played in the Dallas end. The Stars defense, though, stood tall and prevented Colorado from climbing back into the game. Vladislav Namestnikov scored to bring the Avs within one, but it came with just under four seconds to play, and Khudobin made 13 saves in the period and 33 in the game to preserve the 5-4 victory.

Corey Perry was perhaps one of the most impactful players in Game 4 for Dallas, recording four shots and drawing four penalties in a game that saw his team convert of 3/6 power play attempts. Those power play strikes, combined with the efficiency of the Dallas penalty kill (4/5), were the biggest reasons that the Stars emerged with a win.

For Colorado, this loss boils down to a poor start. By the end of the contest, the Avalanche had 37 shots and four goals to show for a night of work, but the inability to get anything going in the first 18 minutes of the game put them too deep in a hole.

These teams will turn around and play again tomorrow night, as the Stars will have an opportunity to advance to the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2008. As for the Avalanche, Game 5 will be the first of three consecutive wins needed to advance.