It’s a new series between Dallas and Colorado.
Despite a lopsided loss to the Avalanche on Saturday, the Dallas Stars evened the series on home ice Monday night with a 4-3 victory. Colin Blackwell scored the game-winner for the Stars with 2:14 remaining in the first overtime period.
Dallas trailed 3-2 entering the third period, but Evgenii Dadonov scored the game-tying goal with 9:47 remaining in regulation. The Stars survived a Colorado power play in the final minutes of regulation and the opening minute of overtime, and Blackwell was able to give the Stars their first win of the playoffs and snap their eight-game losing streak.
The series is now tied 1-1 as it heads to Denver for Game 3 on Wednesday night.
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Here are five thoughts from the Stars’ win:
A series shifting moment
The Stars were in some trouble.
Through two games of this series, Dallas has led for just 1:02 and entered the third period of Monday’s game in a deficit.
But after Jamie Benn, Wyatt Johnston and Dadonov came together to force overtime, Blackwell was the hero in OT.
Just a game after he was a healthy scratch, Blackwell picked up a loose puck and went top shelf for the win.
Heading to Ball Arena down 0-2 could’ve been detrimental for the Stars. Colorado has a 26-12-3 record in its arena this year. The Avalanche also are on the verge of returning captain Gabriel Landeskog for the first time since June 2022.
His return could’ve given Colorado the energy to sweep the series. But Monday’s win means that no matter what happens in Denver, the series will return to Dallas.
Depth forwards tilt ice
During last year’s playoff run, Dallas’ fourth line was responsible for some of its most memorable plays, including Radek Faksa’s Game 7 winner in the Vegas series.
While most of the players on that line are new this season, they provided a similar spark Monday night.
Blackwell drew into the lineup for Mavrik Bourque and skated alongside Oskar Bäck and Sam Steel. The fourth line combined for four shots on goal, 10 hits in regulation, plus the second-period score with Steel and Bäck assisting on Thomas Harley’s goal to give Dallas its first lead of the series.
The line then combined for Blackwell’s game winner in OT.
Dallas also got a critical goal from its third line. Dadonov — who has played on every line this season, but spent most of his time in the bottom six — was demoted from the top line to the third line mid-game Monday. He cleaned up a loose puck off a shot by Johnston with 9:47 left in regulation to tie it 3-3.
While Dallas needs more contributions from its top scorers, its depth could be an advantage deeper in this series.
Stars’ power play goes cold
Most nights, the Stars wouldn’t complain all that much after going 1 for 4 on the power play.
Dallas opened its scoring on the man advantage with under a minute left in the first period. Tyler Seguin scored for the Stars to tie the game entering the first intermission.
But from there, Dallas’ power play went cold at a time when it was most needed.
Tied 2-2, the Stars spent six of the last 10 minutes of the second period on the power play. Interference calls on Joel Kiviranta and Josh Manson and a tripping call on Logan O’Connor swung the momentum in the Stars’ direction.
But even with seven seconds of 5-on-3 and plenty of 5-on-4 time, the Stars were unable to score. Instead, O’Connor came down ice and scored a stunning backhanded goal in transition with 33 seconds left in the period to shift the momentum back in Colorado’s direction.
Dallas took just two penalties in the contest and held Colorado to 1 for 3 on the power play, but Nathan MacKinnon scored on the Avalanche’s first attempt.
No answer for MacKinnon
In the six-game series between Colorado and Dallas last year, the Avalanche’s top player Nathan MacKinnon had just two goals and five points.
By three and a half periods of this year’s series, he had already surpassed his goal total with three, and he has recorded four assists.
The reigning Hart Trophy winner and candidate to repeat has scored power-play goals in both games for the Avalanche, scoring Colorado’s first goal of the night Monday.
Last year, Dallas had lockdown defensemen Miro Heiskanen and Chris Tanev to help contain him. But with Heiskanen injured and Tanev off in Toronto, the Stars need to find a new way to contain Colorado’s superstar — or return Heiskanen to the lineup fast.
Seguin shows he’s back up to speed
Tyler Seguin only played his third game back from hip surgery Monday night, but showed his return was a crucial one for Dallas.
With less than a minute left in the first period, Seguin scored a power-play goal to tie the score 1-1.
It was his first goal since Nov. 29, with his last also coming against Colorado.
Stars coach Pete DeBoer said he expected it to take a few games for Seguin’s conditioning to get back to where it was, but he delivered a much-needed play for the Stars at a critical time.
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