Recap: Avalanche finish preseason with a 2-1 win over Dallas

Oct 6, 2022 - 6:00 AM

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The Colorado Avalanche dressed their most complete roster in their final preseason contest, and it showed. The task at hand was a rematch with the Dallas Stars and yet again the scoring didn’t pick up until the third period but the Avalanche still managed a 2-1 victory.

The Game

A scoreless first period was on tap despite the home team receiving two power play opportunities. The Avalanche lineup regulars including Nathan MacKinnon displayed a little rust as some passes were not connecting.

The second period it was Dallas who got on the board first from Riley Damiani at 4:27 after the two teams traded rush chances and a blocked Erik Johnson shot gave the Stars a chance the other direction.

A sense of urgency was palpable to start the third period and the Avalanche shook off some of the rust and showed why they are the better team. Logan O’Connor finally broke through at 12:36 on a pass from Ben Meyers and a drive to the net which caused some chaos and popped the puck into the net.

At that point the team was determined to not subject the game to an extra frame and Mikko Rantanen took a brilliant feed from Sam Girard to score the go-ahead goal at 17:42. Rantanen had several miscues on the night but delivered when it mattered. The Stars tried getting another goal with the extra attacker but Colorado held on to the lead for the 2-1 final score.

Takeaways

With the preseason now over the Avalanche take a successful 3-3 record with no new major injuries and a tune-up for their lineup regulars ready for the regular season. The stars all looked good and the chemistry is still there. Newcomer Evan Rodrigues looks to fit in well and Alexandar Georgiev picked up the win in this contest to give him some momentum.

Ben Meyers had his best game to date as he was given a third line role centering Andrew Cogliano and Logan O’Connor. Playing the middle of the ice helped get him more involved and Meyers helped create the first Avalanche goal. It was a good time to have a standout game with final cuts looming.

Upcoming

The Avalanche now have a full week of rest and practice before Opening Night against the Chicago Blackhawks at 7:30 p.m. MT on Wednesday, October 12th.