Avalanche Outshine Stars in 4-1 Win

The Colorado Avalanche defeated the Dallas Stars 4-1 on Saturday night at Ball Arena.The Avalanche are now 12-6-1 on the season.

For the Avalanche, Nathan MacKinnon scored on the power play, while Josh Manson (1G, 1A) Dryden Hunt and Andrew Cogliano added even-strength goals. Eight different skaters registered at least one point in the win, while Alexandar Georgiev made 41 saves on 42 shots as he earned First Star of the Game honors.
For the Stars, Joe Pavelski scored on the power play. In net, Scott Wedgewood made 32 saves on 36 shots.

GAME SUMMARY:
For the second meeting this week, Colorado secured a big two points over their Central Division foes in the Stars, who are a complete team both offensively and defensively. It was a solid effort by the Avalanche, who continue to find ways to win despite suffering continuous hits to their lineiup due to injury.
Colorado set the tone early as they skated out to a dominant 2-0 start over the Stars, despite being outshot 16-10.
Dallas put themselves at a disandvantage just 37 seconds into the game as Nils Lundkvist took a holding penalty on Artturi Lehkonen. As the Avalanche's top-ranked power play (34.4%) cycled the puck, Dallas regained possession and their captain Jamie Benn attempted to clear the zone, but miscarried the puck above the faceoff circle and MacKinnon swooped in. The centerman curled into the right faceoff circle and wired a low wrist shot shortside of Wedgewood for the game's icebreaker at 2:05. The power-play strike also marked the eighth-straight game that Colorado has converted on the man advantage.

The Avalanche stayed discipliend the remainder of the peiod and weathered some of the Stars' pushes - backed by some sharp saves by Georgiev - and doubled their lead at 13:51.
On a quick transition play that MacKinnon spearheaded, he dropped a pass to Lehkonen. As the rest of the Avalanche skaters caught up into the zone, Lehkonen turned and fired a sizzling shot from distance on net. Wedgewood was unable to contain the shot as he was shielded by Rantanen at the net front. The puck popped out to the doorstep and Manson crashed the net and tapped it in with the back of his skate blade.

After not taking a penalty in the first peirod, Colorado took five penalties in the second period - three of which were taken by Manson - and in conjunction, Dallas ramped up the intensity in the second period with a 21-shot effort and produced a power-play strike. The Avalanche, who had a 13-consecutive penalty kill streak snapped - totaled 10 shots for the frame, but managed to score at even strength to maintain a two-goal lead heading into the final 20 minutes of play.
On Manson's second penalty - that he took at 7:42 for holding - the Stars capitalized on their second-ranked power play in the league (30.0%) to cut Colorado's lead 2-1 at 8:13. Miro Heiskanen fired a shot from distance that was tipped past Georgiev Pavelski, who is one of the best net-front players in the league. With an asst on the goal, Stars forward Jason Robertson extended his point streak to 15-consecutive games (16G, 12A).

Despite Dallas' push and some unfortuante penalties, Colorado responded to the Stars' strike with one of their own at 10:43. Martin Kaut won a puck battle along the boards to chip the puck out to Alex Newhook. The shifty centerman used his speed to carry the puck from the left faceoff circle, curled behind the net, turned and fired a shot at Wedgewood. The puck bounced off Wedgewood's pads and straight to Hunt on the doorstep, where the winger tapped in the puck with the back of his stick to restore Colorado's two-goal lead 3-1 heading into the final period.
While Colorado was awarded two power plays early in the third period and didn't convert on either, they extended their lead up 4-1 shortly after their second power play. On a quick transition play and odd-man rush, Manson came flying down the right flank and put a hard shot on net. Wedgewood stopped the kicked out a rebound, but was out of his crease and O'Connor and Cogliano both crashed the net. Cogliano was credited for the goal on the scrum play as he put the puck in at 7:01.

REVERSE RETRO DEBUT:
The Avalanche debuted their Reverse Retro uniform for the first of four appearances on the 2022-23 schedule.
The jersey pays tribute to its home state by incorporating colors of the Colorado flag and the 'C' while reintroducing the original jersey design donned by Avalanche greats in the 1995 inaugural season.
The Avalanche will wear the Reverse Retro three more times this season on; December 11th, December 29th and January 2nd.

NOTEWORTHY:
NEXT GAME:
The Avalanche head back on the road for a four-game road trip beginning on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at Winnipeg. The puck drops between the Avs and Jets at 6 p.m. MT.