After a successful opening game in the first round of the playoffs, the Colorado Avalanche were hoping to make it a perfect trip to Dallas. It looked that would be the case as Colorado held a lead going into the third period but Dallas evened the score before nearly a full extra frame was needed for Colin Blackwell to score the game winner to give Dallas the 4-3 victory and even the series 1-1.
The Game
After some cruel teasing it, in fact, was not Gabe Landeskog returns night as the game began late on ESPNU without the Avalanche captain in the lineup. That meant the national audience didn’t get to see the Avalanche get the game’s first power play and score. Nathan MacKinnon wasted no time by converting at 8:48 on a perfectly placed snipe.
Right before the end of the first period Dallas would answer back on a power play goal of their own from Tyler Seguin at 19:07. Colorado controlled most of the period with a 10-8 shot advantage but the game was tied 1-1 after 20 minutes of play.
It was an eventful start to the second period with a go-ahead goal for Dallas from Thomas Harley at 3:40 but Jack Drury evened the score at 2-2 just a minute later off of a feed from Logan O’Connor.
The rest of the period was a penalty-fest with four power plays including three consecutive minor calls against Colorado. Dallas couldn’t cash in and naturally the Avalanche took the play the other way after the last penalty had expired and O’Connor got a goal of his own at 19:27 to put the Avalanche up 3-2 with one period of play left.
In that third period the Avalanche tried to get away with an old fashioned turtle where they generated just 15% of the expected goals share and it bit them as Evgeni Dadonov evened the score at 10:13. Colorado received a late power play when Mikko Rantanen was called for hooking but there was little urgency and no score which brought this pivotal second game to overtime.
In the extra frame Dallas controlled a lot of the play but were also forced to dump the puck in on many of their possessions. But slowly the tide turned in their direction with traffic in front of the net Dallas netted the game winner from Colin Blackwell at 17:46. Dallas takes the game 4-3 and the series is tied 1-1.
Takeaways
A wise man once said you learn more about your team in a loss and this is a great time for the Avalanche to reflect on what went right and wrong in this game as they let a lead slip away with a lack of urgency in the third period. Good news is that the team can learn some hard lessons with a win in Dallas and series split in their back pocket as they head back home for a pair of games.
Micro roster decisions and bottom of the lineup players can make a difference in a game and series as tight as this one is shaping up to be. Colin Blackwell was a scratch in Game 1 and scores the overtime goal tonight, meanwhile Miles Wood comes in for an injured Ross Colton and was on the ice for three of Dallas’ goals on the evening including a critical turnover on the game winning goal and a 12% expected goals. Every roster player matters.
Upcoming
Game 3 at Ball Arena where everyone is expecting something special to happen. Puck drop is at 7:30 p.m. MT (probably really 7:52 p.m.) on Wednesday, April 23rd.
