Final
Avalanche crush Stars
Dec 17, 2013 - 5:19 AM Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - Paul Stastny had two goals and two assists as the Colorado Avalanche routed the Dallas Stars, 6-2, at Pepsi Center.Tyson Barrie, Erik Johnson, Nathan MacKinnion and Andre Benoit each scored for the Avalanche, winners in two of their last three tilts.
PA Parenteau and Matt Duchene finished with three and two assists, respectively, and Semyon Varlamov made 31 saves in the win.
Tyler Seguin scored one goal and added one assist and Kevin Connauton tallied his first NHL goal for the Stars, losers in three of their last four games.
These teams will meet again Tuesday in Dallas.
MacKinnion opened up the scoring at 10:38 of the first period. Duchene skated in along the left side and dropped a pass back to MacKinnion near the circle. The rookie sniped a wrister from just above the circle for a 1-0 lead.
Connauton's goal came with 33 seconds remaining in the first as he tipped in a Seguin shot to knot things up.
"Just as a team, we got away from our game. The excitement of the goal really wore off quick. They are so quick and come hard to the net, we just couldn't bounce back," said Connauton. "It is great, we have a shot at redemption tomorrow night. We have to get off to a good start."
The Avs, though, scored four goals in the second to take control of the game.
First, Stastny tipped in a Maxime Talbot shot 8:29 in. The goal snapped a 10- game streak without a point for Stastny.
"The first couple games were really bad. After that, things began to click. You get the chances keep plugging and the points come," Stastny said.
At 13:42 Benoit one-timed a Ryan O'Reilly pass into the back of the net, and Stastny added his second marker of the period after tipping in a Gabriel Landeskog offering nearly three minutes later.
Johnson capped the high-scoring frame with a slap shot with three seconds left for a 5-1 lead.
Seguin tipped in a Valeri Nichuskin pass 3:26 into the final frame and Barrie scored his first goal of the season at 15:16 to account for the final margin.
Game Notes
Stastny was one point shy of tying a career-high for points in a game (five) ... Parenteau and Landeskog both notched their first points in five games.
- DALLAS: 2
COLORADO: 6
Final
Dec 16 11:32 PM - Colorado Goal - Tyson Barrie, from P.A. Parenteau and Paul Stastny at 15:16.
Stars 2, Avalanche 6 3rd - 4:44Dec 16 11:23 PM - Dallas Goal - Tyler Seguin (18), from Valeri Nichushkin at 3:26.
Stars 2, Avalanche 5 3rd - 16:34Dec 16 11:03 PM - DALLAS: 1
COLORADO: 5
End of 2nd
Dec 16 10:41 PM - Colorado Goal - Gabriel Landeskog (10), from Erik Johnson at 19:59.
Stars 1, Avalanche 5 2nd - 0:01Dec 16 10:41 PM - Colorado Goal - Paul Stastny (10), from Gabriel Landeskog and P.A. Parenteau at 16:32.
Stars 1, Avalanche 4 2nd - 3:28Dec 16 10:34 PM - Colorado Goal - Paul Stastny (9), from Maxime Talbot and Jamie McGinn at 8:29.
Stars 1, Avalanche 2 2nd - 11:31Dec 16 10:18 PM - DALLAS: 1
COLORADO: 1
End of 1st
Dec 16 9:48 PM - Colorado Goal - Nathan MacKinnon (7), from Matt Duchene and Cory Sarich at 10:38.
Stars 0, Avalanche 1 1st - 9:22Dec 16 9:24 PM - DALLAS: 0
COLORADO: 0
1st Period - 20:00
Dec 16 9:09 PM
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