Dallas Stars Round 2 Second Round 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs Postseason Nazem Kadri Goal Celebrate Game 5

The Colorado Avalanche staved off elimination on Monday night with a 6-3 win against the Dallas Stars in Game 5 of their second-round series at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.
Dallas now leads best-of-seven set 3-2, with Game 6 on Wednesday.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare tallied the first of the game 4:37 into the first period on a rush with Logan O'Connor and Matt Nieto before Colorado broke open the scoring.

Andre Burakovsky, Nathan MacKinnon, Nazem Kadri and Mikko Rantanen all tallied in a 2:36 span in the middle of the stanza to give Colorado a 5-0 lead at the intermission. The Avalanche set a new franchise record with 23 shots on net in the opening frame and only allowed Dallas to fire five pucks on goal; the Avs finished the contest with a 41-34 edge in shots.
Joe Pavelski and Miro Heiskanen scored in the second period for the Stars before Burakovsky tallied his second marker of the game in the final two minutes of the stanza to give him a three-point night (also had an assist). MacKinnon and Rantanen also added assists in the contest for multi-point outings as well.
Michael Hutchinson made his first career postseason start for the Avs after Pavel Francouz was determined to be unfit to play and stopped 31 shots, including 17-of-18 in the third period.
Ben Bishop made a surprise start for the Stars, his first in more than two weeks, but only lasted 12 minutes after allowing four goals on 19 shots.
Statistics
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Highlights
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Photo Gallery
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Postgame Notes
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Video: Coach Bednar
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Video: Bellemare & Burakovsky
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Video: Hutchinson & Timmins

THE GOALS

1st Period
4:37 COL (1-0) - On a rush up the ice, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare took a pass from Logan O'Connor and one-touched a shot into the net.
11:51 COL (2-0) - Off a faceoff win in the offensive zone, Cale Makar's shot deflected off Mikko Rantanen and rebounded off Ben Bishop right to Andre Burakovsky, who knocked in the puck in the open net.
12:32 COL (3-0) - Nathan MacKinnon wrist shot from the slot off a pass from J.T. Compher beat Bishop five-hole.
13:43 COL (4-0) - Nazem Kadri knocked in the puck after Bishop couldn't contain a rebound in his crease.
14:27 COL (5-0) - Samuel Girard's backhand shot was redirected by Mikko Rantanen and beat Anton Khudobin under his arm for the team's fifth goal in a 2:36 span.
2nd Period
7:50 DAL (5-1) - Joe Pavelski grabbed a loose puck and scored to get Dallas on the board.
17:31 DAL (5-2) - PPG, Miro Heiskanen tallied from the right circle.
18:04 COL (6-2) - Andre Burakovsky found the back of the net with a one-timer off a pass from Nathan MacKinnon.
3rd Period
14:12 DAL (6-3) - PPG, Jamie Benn scored on a rebound.
Final: Avalanche - 6 | Stars - 3
3 STARS
1. Andre Burakovsky (COL): Playoff career-high three points 2. Nathan MacKinnon (COL): Goal and assist 3. Denis Gurianov (DAL): Had three assists

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 0 for 6
Dallas: 2 for 6

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Michael Hutchinson saved 31 shots in his first career start in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Dallas: Ben Bishop made his debut in the series and allowed four goals on 19 shots in 13:43 of action. It was his first game since Game 2 of Round 1 versus the Calgary Flames on Aug. 13. Anton Khudobin relieved Bishop in the first period and finished the outing while making 20-of-22 saves.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Fast Start: The Avalanche scored five goals in the first period and set some records in the process. It was the first time in franchise history that the club had tallied five times in a playoff period and its 23 shots on goal in the frame also set a new team record for a postseason period.
Four of Colorado's goals came in a 2:36 span, a new Colorado/Quebec record and one second shy of the NHL mark for the playoffs (2:35, Montreal in Game 5 of 1944 semifinals vs. Toronto).

NOTEBOOK

Nathan MacKinnon extended his point streak to 13 games (eight goals, 15 assists). It is the longest playoff point streak since Jonathan Toews' 13 gamer with Chicago in 2010. MacKinnon's streak is the longest season-opening run since Mark Messier also recorded a point in the first 13 games in 1994 with the New York Rangers… Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored his second career playoff goal and his second of the series… With an assist, Logan O'Connor recorded his first career postseason point… Mikko Rantanen extended his career-long postseason point streak to eight games… Cale Makar (four games), Andre Burakovsky (three games) and Nazem Kadri (three games) also extended their own point streaks… Burakovsky recorded his fourth multi-point game of the playoffs and his first career three-point performance in the postseason… Burakovsky became the fourth Avalanche player in the last 20 years to post three or more points in a postseason game when facing elimination, joining J.T. Compher (2g/1a) in Game 6 of the 2019 Second Round, Adam Foote (1g/2a) in Game 6 of the 2001 Stanley Cup Final and Alex Tanguay (2g/1a) in Game 7 of the 2001 Stanley Cup Final... Makar now has 14 points in the playoffs (three goals, 11 assists), the most among rookies… Nazem Kadri scored his fifth game-winning goal of the postseason, taking sole possession of the franchise's second spot for the most during a playoff year. Only Joe Sakic's six game-winners in 1996 was more... The Avalanche has now used three goaltenders in a playoff year for the second time in franchise history (Quebec Nordiques, 1995)... This marks the fourth time in the 2020 postseason the Avalanche has scored six or more goals. The franchise has only had as many six-goal performances in a single postseason on one other occasion (4 in 1997). Additionally, the 2018 Capitals are the only other team in the last 20 years to post four or more six-goal outings in a single postseason.

QUOTABLE

Avs goalie Michael Hutchinson on his first playoff start: "It's exciting. I've had a pretty long career so far and this is my first playoff start. When you get that news, first thing in my mind was excitement. It's what you work for. As a kid, any dream when playing in the backyard is playing in the Stanley Cup Final and Stanley Cup Playoffs. Myself, I was excited and was looking forward to the opportunity to get a chance to play."

BIG HIGHLIGHT

DAL@COL, Gm5: Avs explode for five goals in the 1st

IMAGE OF THE GAME

You go over there.

Dallas Stars Round 2 Second Round 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs Postseason Gabriel Landeskog Game 5

ROSTER REPORT

Avalanche goaltender Michael Hutchinson made his first career start in the Stanley Cup Playoffs after making his postseason debut in relief in Game 4… Rookie Conor Timmins played his first career Stanley Cup Playoff game after appearing in two games during the regular season. Timmins began the contest on a defensive pairing with Samuel Girard… Nikita Zadorov played on a duo with Ian Cole, while Ryan Graves and Cale Makar made up another blue-line combo… The Avs began the contest by having Andre Burakovsky and Gabriel Landeskog switch left wing spots in the team's top-six… Hunter Miska was the backup goalie for Colorado.

INJURY UPDATE

Goaltender Pavel Francouz joined forwards Matt Calvert and Joonas Donskoi as unfit to play… Goalie Philipp Grubauer and defenseman Erik Johnson remain out indefinitely after getting hurt in Game 1 of the series.

UP NEXT

The Avalanche faces another elimination game on Wednesday as it takes on the Stars in Game 6 of the Round 2 series. Game time is at 6 p.m. MT and it will be televised on NBCSN in the United States.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on the start of the game
Forwards
95 Andre Burakovsky - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 91 Nazem Kadri - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
17 Tyson Jost - 37 J.T. Compher - 90 Vladislav Namestnikov
83 Matt Nieto - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 25 Logan O'Connor
Defensemen
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
16 Nikita Zadorov - 28 Ian Cole
49 Samuel Girard - 20 Conor Timmins
Goaltenders
35 Michael Hutchinson (starter)
32 Hunter Miska (backup)