Roope Hintz Comes Up Big for Stars In Game Two Win Over Avs NHL Trade Talk.
Game One between the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars dramatically ended as Dallas blew a three-goal lead but hung on for a 5-3 win to even the series. Like the first game, the Stars scored four unanswered goals first. Colorado scored three in the third, only for Dallas to put the game away in the final seconds of the contest. Here is a period-by-period breakdown of Game Two of this series.
First Period Was Pretty Even
In the very first shift of the game, Alexander Georgiev made an incredible backdoor save. Jason Robertson entered the zone and fed Logan Stankoven, who found himself on the first line, crashing the net before getting robbed on a tap-in opportunity. The Avalanche took two penalties in two minutes. A too many men call and an unfortunate delay of game penalty as Nathan Mackinnon’s clearing attempt hit the scoreboard.
On Mackinnon’s penalty, the Stars capitalized on the powerplay. Defenseman Miro Heiskanen scored on a one-timer off a beautiful pass from Roope Hintz. Other than that goal, very little offense was generated in the first period.
Other than an amazing glove save by Jake Oettinger on Valeri Nichushkin on an end-of-period powerplay, the Avalanche had next to no scoring chances. Georgiev did have himself a few great saves to keep his team in the game.
Second Period Was All Stars
Less than two minutes in the second period, Hintz puts Dallas up by two. Ryan Suter rimmed the puck from behind the net to Logan Stankoven’s stick in the neutral zone who then made a beautiful bank pass to Mason Marchment. The latter entered the zone, and fed the trailer in Nils Lundqvist, who sold the shot and passed to Hintz who was wide open. Georgiev had no chance on the play.
One minute later, Devon Toews got crushed by Jamie Benn behind the net, as his stick broke upon impact. The referees had to review the play, but the final call was not to send Benn to the sin bin. Toews ended up returning later in the game.
AT 15:32, Evgeny Dadonov drew a penalty on a breakaway. On the powerplay, Heiskanen scored again, off a point shot this time.
The Stars added another goal on the penalty kill, to make it 4-0. Tyler Seguin scored his first of the playoffs with a top-shelf shot.
Third Period Was Almost All Avs
The Avalanche finally got on the board as Josh Manson put a low shot on net from the point, and Joel Kiviranta cleaned up the rebound to score on his former team. Colorado then cut the lead in half as Brandon Duhaime scored his first career playoff goal. He broke his stick while blocking a shot and started the breakout. He got to the bench in time for the trainer to get him a new stick and joined the rush to finish the play with a great shot. The Avalanche pulled their goaltender early and got a goal with the sixth man. Nichushkin deflected Arturri Lehkonen’s screened shot to cut the Stars’ lead down to one.
Esa Lindell secured the win with a late empty-netter from his own end.
Colorado hasn’t scored more than three goals for the first time this postseason. The Stars’ penalty kill held off the red-hot Avalanche powerplay, as well as scored shorthanded. Jared Bednar’s special teams underperformed in Game Two, which was a difference-maker. Georgiev is on a good streak, but couldn’t get enough discipline from his team.
Pavelski has yet to score a goal in the playoffs; in fact, he only has one point in his last ten contests. In this game, there were some instances where he mishandled the puck and struggled with speed and execution. Pavelski had an impressive 67 points this season, as a 39-year-old. He has lost his position on the top line. At the end of the third, he got robbed of a one-timer on the powerplay. Pavelski still brings a lot to the team despite being held off the scoresheet and should get out of his slump soon.
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Roope Hintz Comes Up Big for Stars In Game Two Win Over Avs NHL Trade Talk.
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