Game 6 was the second opportunity for the Dallas Stars to close out their second round series, as the Colorado Avalanche looked to force a deciding Game 7.
After failing to take care of business in Game 5, the Dallas Stars elected to turn back to Anton Khudobin in goal in Game 6. He relieved Ben Bishop in the last contest after Bishop fell victim to the first period barrage by the Colorado Avalanche.
At the other end, Colorado stuck with Michael Hutchinson, as Pavel Francouz and Philipp Grubauer remained sidelined with injuries. He played well in Game 5, and he was forced to be sharp early in Game 6, as the Stars came out much quicker than in the previous game.
The Avalanche, meanwhile, had some trouble with turning the puck over and losing faceoffs, which resulted in an early shot advantage for the Stars. The Dallas pressure subsided, however, when Blake Comeau was penalized, sending the Avs to the power play. Colorado was unable to capitalize, but the advantage certainly swung momentum in their favor.
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Another power play chance came up empty later in the frame, but the Avalanche managed to use the advantages to rattle off nine straight shots. Khudobin was strong in front of the Colorado shot attempts, while Hutchinson made a terrific save at the other end to keep things scoreless.
It wasn’t until 17:35 had passed that the ice was finally broken by defenseman Miro Heiskanen of the Stars. A couple minutes later, another defenseman, Nikita Zadorov, tied things up for the Avalanche, and that was where the game stood at the end of one period.
Colorado’s late goal seemed to provide the Avs with a boost of confidence as the second period commenced, as they carried the play and took the lead. The go-ahead goal was scored by yet another defenseman, Cale Makar.
Period two was evenly played for much of its twenty minutes. Both teams, blocked shots, had chances to score, and prevented the other team from pulling away. The only distinction in the period, besides the Colorado goal, was that the Avalanche had two more tries on the power play. The Stars had a difficult time staying out of the box, but the penalty kill continued to come up big.
Unlike in the first two periods, the scoring in the third got off to a quick start, as Nathan MacKinnon fed a flawless saucer pass to Mikko Rantanen who placed it perfectly, giving Khudobin no chance to make a save. With that assist, MacKinnon now has points in all 14 games this postseason, which is the second longest (tied) point streak to start a playoff season.
From there, Hutchinson did the rest for the Avalanche. After starting his first career playoff game in Game 5, he came out and stopped 26/27 shots to earn his second win in a row. MacKinnon extended his lead in playoff points by adding an empty net goal to seal the win.
This low-scoring game, in theory, should have favored a Dallas team that prides itself on defense. Instead, it was Colorado that found a way to contain the opposing offense, win the game, and force a winner-take-all game on Friday.
The Stars must find a way to shift the momentum in their favor early in Game 7. They have continued to get into penalty trouble in this series, and while the penalty killing unit has not conceded many goals, it hurts the flow of the game for them and keeps the top talent on the bench.
Dallas also has to be able to score early, because after scoring at least four goals in each of the first four games of this series, it has only four goals in the last two contests combined. That will not get the job done against the Avalanche.
For Colorado, things seem to have clicked in the last couple of games. The scoring is coming from not only the top forward line, but also the depth forwards and the defensemen, while the defense has stepped up and slowed down the Stars. The key area to improve in Game 7 will be the third period, as the Avs have allowed Dallas to get more shots and chances late in games.
For the second year in a row, the Stars and Avalanche will have a Game 7 in the second round. Both came up short in 2019, but they will have a chance to earn redemption on Friday.