Rapid Recap: Stars 5, Avalanche 3 (Game 1)

The Colorado Avalanche fell 5-3 to the Dallas Stars in Game 1 of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs Second Round on Saturday night at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta.
Dallas took a 3-1 lead in the first period, and Colorado couldn't close the gap. The Avs got within one score twice in the contest but was never able to find the equalizer.
Nathan MacKinnon recorded his seventh career three-point game in the postseason for the Avalanche, scoring twice and contributing an assist as well. Gabriel Landeskog also tallied in a multi-point outing for himself as well (goal and assist).

Colorado defenseman Samuel Girard had two assists, and Nazem Kadri and Mikko Rantanen also had helpers. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer made seven saves on 10 shots before leaving early in the second period due to an injury; Pavel Francouz finished the game in net and made 18-of-20 saves.
Alexander Radulov (two goals, one assist) and Jamie Benn (three assists) each had three-point outings for the Stars. Tyler Seguin opened the game's scoring early in the first period and later added an assist on Radulov's second marker that made the game 4-2 midway through the second period.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Monday.
Highlights
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Photo Gallery
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Statistics
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Postgame Notes
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Video: Coach Bednar Postgame
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Video: Francouz, Landeskog & MacKinnon

THE GOALS

1st Period
4:00 DAL (0-1) - Tyler Seguin scored his first goal of the postseason from the low slot after taking a pass by Jamie Benn from behind the net.
5:04 COL (1-0) - Nathan MacKinnon cycled through the zone and scored from the high slot.
9:51 DAL (1-2) - Blake Comeau's slap shot deflected off a Colorado player's stick and into the cage.
16:28 DAL (1-3) - Alexander Radulov scored with a backhand shot on a rush up the ice.
2nd Period
4:36 COL (2-3) - Gabriel Landeskog was able to stuff the puck from below the goal line for his first tally of the playoffs.
9:09 DAL (2-4) - Alexander Radulov picked up his second goal of the night after whacking in a rebound from a Tyler Seguin shot.
18:29 COL (3-4) - Nathan MacKinnon redirected Samuel Girard's shot during 4-on-4 play for his second tally of the game.
3rd Period
8:47 DAL (3-5) - Roope Hintz tallied with a wrist shot from the right circle.
Final: Stars - 5 | Avalanche - 3

3 STARS

1. Alexander Radulov (DAL): Three-point game
2. Nathan MacKinnon (COL): Two goals and an assist
3. Jamie Benn (COL): Three helpers

POWER PLAYS

Colorado: 0 for 1
Dallas: 0 for 2

GOALTENDING BATTLE

Colorado: Philipp Grubauer made his third straight start and stopped seven shots before leaving 3:06 into the second period with an injury. Pavel Francouz finished the contest and denied 18-of-20 shots.
Dallas: Anton Khudobin started his fifth consecutive game and made 28 saves on 31 shots.

STAT OF THE NIGHT

Nathan MacKinnon had two goals and an assist for his fourth outing with multiple points this playoffs and his third in a row. It is a new career-long streak for him in the playoffs.
After producing four points in Game 5 of Round 1 against Arizona, MacKinnon has now recorded at least three points in back-to-back games for the second time in his career. He first accomplished the feat on April 17-19, 2014--his first two career playoff contests. MacKinnon is the third player in franchise history and the first with the Avs to accomplish the feat multiple times, joining Peter Stastny (3x) and Michel Goulet (2x).
He is the fourth player to record consecutive games with three-plus points this postseason, joining Carolina's Sebastian Aho, Edmonton's Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Edmonton's Connor McDavid--all of whom did it twice.

NOTEBOOK

The Avalanche and Stars were beginning their fifth all-time playoff series and their first since 2006. Both teams have won twice (2-2), with Colorado taking the last two (2004 and 2006)… Nathan MacKinnon extended his playoff point streak to nine games, setting a new career long after recording at least a point in every game so far in the postseason. He takes sole possession of the second spot for the longest point streak to begin the playoffs in franchise history (Joe Sakic, 10 games, 1996) and is tied for the second-longest streak at any point in the postseason for the Avs/Quebec Nordiques… MacKinnon leads the league in playoff scoring with now a career-best 16 points and is tied for first in the postseason with six goals... Mikko Rantanen extended his point streak to four games (two goals, four assists), while Gabriel Landeskog (one goal, six assists) and Nazem Kadri (four goals, two assists) have points in three consecutive games… Samuel Girard had two assists for his second multi-point game of the playoffs and of his postseason career… The Avs were playing their first night game during this postseason... The Avalanche is now 27-17 all-time in Game 1s.

QUOTABLE

Head coach Jared Bednar on his team's play: "We have to be way better. There is no use beating around the bush on it, everyone knows it, everyone watched it, you can see it. We expect to be a lot better than that, and I'm sure we will be."
BIG HIGHLIGHT

IMAGE OF THE GAME

ROSTER REPORT

Vladislav Namestnikov returned to the lineup after missing the past three games and began the game on a line with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Matt Nieto. He had been out since being involved in a collision in Game 2 of the First Round series against the Arizona Coyotes… Matt Calvert missed his first game of the postseason.

INJURY UPDATE

Goaltender Philipp Grubauer left 3:06 into the second period with an injury… Erik Johnson left the game twice with apparent injuries, midway through the first period and at the end of the second. He returned to the bench for the third period but did not play.

UP NEXT

The Avalanche looks to even the best-of-seven series in Game 2 on Monday at 7:45 p.m. MT.

LINE COMBINATIONS

Based on the start of the game
Forwards
92 Gabriel Landeskog - 29 Nathan MacKinnon - 96 Mikko Rantanen
95 Andre Burakovsky - 91 Nazem Kadri - 72 Joonas Donskoi
17 Tyson Jost - 37 J.T. Compher - 13 Valeri Nichushkin
83 Matt Nieto - 41 Pierre-Edouard Bellemare - 90 Vladislav Namestnikov
Defensemen
27 Ryan Graves - 8 Cale Makar
49 Samuel Girard - 28 Ian Cole
16 Nikita Zadorov - 6 Erik Johnson
Goaltenders
31 Philipp Grubauer (starter)
39 Pavel Francouz (backup)