Recap: Colorado decks their division foe in 4-1 win over Dallas

Nov 27, 2022 - 5:30 AM

Colorado Avalanche" src="https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/thumbor/UtlodWeu4Ei-SXooJfgA82SW-5E=/0x0:3329x1873/1920x1080/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/71677696/1444856284.0.jpg" />

Following the surprise postponement of their game in Nashville, the Colorado Avalanche hosted the Dallas Stars to close out the weekend in the debut of their gorgeous new Colorado state themed Reverse Retro jerseys. The new look provided a spark as the Avalanche closed out a physical battle with the Stars in this 4-1 win.

The Game

Considering Dallas played last night the Avalanche needed to get out to a fast start and they did scoring the game’s opening goal just two minutes into the game on the power play. Nathan MacKinnon pounced on a failed exit by Jamie Benn and made Dallas pay before the penalty kill could get set back up.

Despite getting outshot 16-10 in the period the Avalanche played the first 20 minutes pretty well with some physicality and generated scoring chances. They were rewarded with another tally as Josh Manson drove all the way to the net front and tapped in a loose puck from a Mikko Rantanen rebound at 13:51. That goal also quietly extended Artturi Lehkonen’s point streak to nine games. A 2-0 lead after the first period felt pretty good.

In the second period Dallas finally cashed in on one of their five power plays, caused due to three separate infractions by Manson, one from Nathan MacKinnon and a too many men penalty to boot. Joe Pavelski got a tip past Alexandar Georgiev at 8:13 but the Avalanche countered with a goal of their own at 10:43 when Dryden Hunt scored his first in a Colorado sweater on some hard work started by Martin Kaut and Alex Newhook. Considering the home team spent half of the period on the penalty kill they were in good position still up 3-1 after 40 minutes of play.

The third period went all to the Avalanche as they earned a 16-6 shot advantage. Andrew Cogliano added an insurance marker at 7:01 after the puck grazed by him on a give-and-go play between Manson and Logan O’Connor with the net vacated by Dallas goalie Scott Wedgewood. After that goal it looked like Dallas was finally out of gas and couldn’t muster much danger. The Avalanche locked it down and cruised to a 4-1 victory in this important divisional matchup.

Takeaways

The Avalanche just seem to play better against stiffer competition and despite getting outshot early in this game was matching the intensity and physicality Dallas brought. It was a good team win with everyone from the penalty killers to depth players making a difference.

Alexandar Georgiev continued his stellar play making 41 saves and had to be sharp especially in the second period while killing five penalties. He is very confident in his crease right now making it look easy.

Jacob MacDonald delivered a big hit on Joel Kiviranta with a minute or so left in the game. Luke Glendening took an instigator penalty to start a fight with MacDonald and then the game mercifully ended. It was apparently MacDonald’s first NHL fight which he handled well.

Upcoming

The start of a four-game road trip at the home of the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday, November 29th at 6 p.m. MT.