Dallas Stars @ Colorado Avalanche 4-5 - 01/10

For the Colorado Avalanche, it's beginning to feel a lot like last season when no deficit seemed too large. The Avalanche defeated the Dallas Stars 4-3 at Pepsi Center on Saturday for their fifth win in the past six games. Colorado trailed 2-0 in the first period. Goalie Semyon Varlamov made 37 saves, Matt Duchene ended a slump with a goal and an assist, and the Avalanche (18-16-8) killed six Stars power plays. Duchene, who had gone 12 games without a goal, came from behind the net while being checked by Stars defenseman David Schlemko. Duchene spun around in the left circle and shot the puck over goalie Kari Lehtonen's glove. The Avalanche blocked 26 shots, and Erik Johnson, who was named to the NHL All-Star Game, led the way with six. Nate Guenin blocked five shots and Brad Stuart four. Varlamov has allowed five goals in the past three games, all wins, facing 132 shots. The Stars (18-16-7) pulled within 4-3 when Ales Hemsky converted Jason Spezza's drop pass at 2:38 of the third period. They had three more power plays, including a 6-on-4 advantage for the final 18 seconds. The Avalanche are 10-0-0 when scoring four or more non-shootout goals and are 9-3-2 in their past 14 games. At 44 points, Colorado moved one ahead of Dallas in a race for the second wild-card spot into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference. Dallas, which scored on two of its first three shots, has lost four games in a row (0-2-2). The Avalanche scored three goals in the second period to take a 3-2 lead with Nathan MacKinnon breaking a 2-2 tie with 8.4 seconds remaining. Avalanche forward Maxime Talbot intercepted defenseman John Klingberg's attempted clear and passed to MacKinnon, who skated down the middle. He took a shot from in close and the puck appeared to roll under goalie Lehtonen's left pad and across the goal line. Video review was inconclusive in determining whether the puck completely crossed the line, therefore the referee's call that it was a goal stood. Johnson and John Mitchell also had goals in the second. Johnson scored his career-high 12th at 7:18. He skated from the right corner into the circle and put a backhand through traffic inside the near post. Mitchell's shot from the blue line found its way through several bodies at 8:43. The Avalanche killed three Stars power plays in the period, including a 5-on-3 advantage that lasted 33 seconds. The Stars are 0-for-14 in their past four games. Avalanche defenseman Jan Hejda spent 5:54 killing penalties. The Stars scored on two of their first three shots to take a 2-0 lead. Dallas forward Tyler Seguin spun around above the left hash marks for a shot that Brett Ritchie knocked in 27 seconds after the opening faceoff. Stars forward Colton Sceviour put a backhand behind Varlamov at 9:24 from the slot after Vernon Fiddler kept an Avalanche clearing attempt from exiting the zone. Fiddler left the game because of a lower-body injury and did not return.

Stars Quotes

Lindy Ruff: "We played well enough and hard enough to win. We made a couple of big mistakes."


Jamie Benn: "It’s got to make a difference for us in these hockey games and it isn’t right now. We got the start that we wanted and we kind of laid an egg in the second period, which we obviously can’t do against a good team like that. Their goalie played a good game. Their team played a pretty good game as well. We have to find a way to play a solid 60 minutes, especially when we’re halfway done with the year now," Benn said. "There’s only going to be tight games from here on in, so we have to find a way to play a full 60 minutes and win those one-goal games. I think we all know where we’re sitting right now. We’re five points out of the playoffs or whatever it is, but we have to find a way to turn it up to that next level as a team and really make a strong push for the rest of the year.”