Colorado Avalanche Burn Out The Stars

Dec 16, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog (92) attempts to score against Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen (32) during the first period at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Avalanche would defeat the Dallas Stars Monday night at the Pepsi Center after a strong second period in which the team scored four goals, finishing the game with a 6-2 win. The Avs would also record a season-high in shots with 48.

The Colorado Avalanche would commit a penalty just 18 seconds in the game as Cory Sarich would be called for interference with the hold on Erik Cole. The Colorado penalty-kill unit would kill off the Dallas Stars power-play, as they looked in control early on. The Stars would commit a penalty of their own shortly after as Jamie Oleksiak would get caught tripping Colorado’s Ryan O’Reilly. Colorado has struggled mightily on the power-play in the past ten games, going 0-for-26 on their chances. Once again they couldn’t get the puck in the net as their drought continued.

Jan Hejda would lift the puck over the glass resulting in a delay of game penalty, putting the Stars right back on the power-play. There would be no harm done as the penalty-kill unit would get the puck out of the zone, killing it off. Kari Lehtonen would make a smart play as P.A. Parenteau would have a solid chance to score if the goaltender didn’t poke-check the puck away before he had the one-on-one chance. Seconds later, Nathan MacKinnon would go top-shelf, putting the Avalanche up 1-0 on his seventh goal of the season. He would be assisted by Matt Duchene and Cory Sarich. Speaking of Sarich, this is the fourth-straight game that the defenseman has recorded a point in.

The Avalanche would have a 5-on-3 chance after penalties from Sergei Gonchar for hooking and Brenden Dillon for boarding. The Avs would get many scoring chances but fell to 0-for-29 in their last 29 power-play chances. Matt Duchene would pick up a hooking penalty with 24 seconds left in Colorado’s power-play. The Stars would tie the game on the ensuing 4-on-4 as Kevin Connauton would score his first goal of the season off of a nice pass from Tyler Seguin, tying the game up at one. Dallas would have 1:15 remaining on their power-play entering the second period. Avs had a good period as they put 21 shots on net, rookie Nathan MacKinnon would account for five of them.

Colorado would kill off the remaining 1:15 on the Stars power-play but would pick-up yet another penalty. Defenseman Tyson Barrie would get sent to the box for high-sticking, a two-minute minor. The penalty-kill unit was spectacular again as they kept the pressure on, not allowing a goal. Colorado would strike as Maxime Talbot would spin-and-shoot from the far side of the net that was tipped in by Paul Stastny, giving him his ninth goal of the year. Jamie McGinn would also pick up a point getting the assist with Talbot as the Avalanche took the 2-1 lead.

Nathan MacKinnon would intercept a pass at mid-ice and would have a one-on-one chance, but the rookie was stuffed on the back-hand attempt. Andre Benoit would give the Avalanche some insurance around the six-minute mark as the defenseman would take a wrist-shot as he hit the back of the net for his second goal of the season. Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly would pick up the assist as Colorado took the 3-1 lead.

The Avs would keep adding on as captain Gabriel Landeskog would take a slap-shot from just inside in the blue-line that was tipped in front of the net by Paul Stastny for his second goal of the game, putting the Avalanche ahead with a 4-1 lead. Parenteau would pick up the assist along with Landeskog. Erik Johnson would take a slap-shot from the right side that would be tipped in by Landeskog giving him his tenth goal of the season, assists going to Johnson and Stastny as the Avalanche took a 5-1 lead going into the third period. The scoring play would be reviewed the goal would be switched to Erik Johnson, getting credit for his third goal of the season, assists to Parenteau and Stastny.

The Dallas Stars would put another goal up early in the third period as Valeri Nichushkin would set up Tyler Seguin with a nice pass as Seguin would score his 18th goal of the season, reducing the Avalanche lead to three. Dallas would pick up two-straight penalties as the Avs had a chance to snap their power-play skid, but would be killed off yet again. However, seconds after the power-play was killed off, Tyson Barrie would score his first goal of the season as Parenteau and Stastny picked up the assists, pushing the Colorado lead to 6-2. Cory Sarich would pick up a penalty for interference with 2:02 remaining in the game but Colorado would kill it off, defeating Dallas 6-2.

Three Stars:

3: Matt Duchene (COL): Two assists, 7 shots on net.

2: Semyon Varlamov (COL): 31 saves on 33 attempts, 15th win of the season.

1: Paul Stastny (COL): Two goals, two assists, +2 rating.

The Colorado Avalanche (22-9-1) will face the Dallas Stars again tomorrow night in a home-and-home series. Puck-Drop scheduled for 8:30 PM ET, 6:30 PM MT.