Pavelski, Stars end Avalanche winning streak at six

DALLAS -- Joe Pavelski scored two goals to reach 400 in the NHL, and the Dallas Stars handed the Colorado Avalanche their first loss in seven games with a 3-1 win at American Airlines Center on Friday.

Pavelski is the 10th United States-born player in NHL history to score 400 goals.
"It's fantastic, good for him," Stars coach Rick Bowness said. "A fantastic career, and a long career. Four hundred goals, that's a tough thing to achieve in this league. Congrats to him. Very, very happy for him."
Jake Oettinger (32 saves) and Braden Holtby (four saves) helped Dallas (9-7-2) win its third straight and for the fifth time in six games.
"I think it just goes to show how well we've been playing defensively," Oettinger said about the Stars' past two wins against the Edmonton Oilers and Avalanche. "If you look at the scoring chances, I don't think either team has had a ton. Especially teams like that, it seems like they get a few freebies every game, they're that good. But we haven't given any of that, and the guys have done such a good job committing to defense. I think, if you look back two years ago when we went to the [Stanley Cup Final], we're playing like that team right now, and we just have to keep that going."
Oettinger left at 12:38 of the second period following a collision with Avalanche forward Nicolas Aube-Kubel but returned at the start of the third period.
"Obviously, I took a hit there," Oettinger said. "It's just part of the protocol that when they think you took a hard hit, to pull you out. Obviously, the NHL cares about players and their health. I think it's important that we have that in place. You never want to come out of a game, but you got to do what you got to do."
Cale Makar scored for the fifth straight game, and Darcy Kuemper made 19 saves for the Avalanche (10-6-1). Nazem Kadri had his point streak end at 10 games.
"We weren't ready to start the game on time for me," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "I just think they came out with a lot of jump and were more competitive early in that game. We were lucky it was only two goals, but two is enough. I mean, we spotted them two goals in the first and ended up losing by two. I think we got marginally better as they game went on, but still didn't do enough things to win the hockey game."

Pavelski gave the Stars a 1-0 lead at 1:12 of the first period, deflecting Jason Robertson's turnaround shot into an open net near the left post.
"The [defense], we talked before the game. We need to make sure we box out those guys," Makar said. "They like to get guys behind us and tipping and stuff. I was guilty of it multiple times early. We started to figure it out as a core going on, but they're dangerous around the net and their [defensemen] are good at getting pucks through. We need to minimize the amount of chances they get behind [Kuemper] in terms of stuff that he shouldn't have to worry about. Other than that, it's just another learning experience for our team."

Pavelski scored 19 seconds later to make it 2-0 when Roope Hintz found him in the slot.
"Obviously, not ideal, that was an early hole that we were in there," Kuemper said. "You never want that to happen, but just got to kind of focus on the next save, control what you can control. That's done with. Just try to move forward and kind of stop it at two there."
Denis Gurianov extended the lead to 3-0 at 14:26 of the second period with a power-play goal from the slot after Miro Heiskanen's pass was blocked by Jack Johnson.
"Great start to the game, clearly," Bowness said. "Specialty teams were really good. We bent a little there in the third period, but we didn't break. Spent a little too much time in our zone, but that's a great hockey team over there. They're probably the fastest team in the league, so we knew they were going to make a big push at us in the third."
Makar cut it to 3-1 at 16:39 of the third period with Kuemper pulled for the extra attacker. He is the first defenseman in Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques history to score a goal in five straight games.
"He's an elite player in almost every aspect of the game," Bednar said. "Especially with his puck movement and his ability to move at the offensive zone blue line. That's where he's been really dangerous. You get the pucks low to high in that zone, and he can beat guys 1-on-1, he can score from distance with his shot. I think that's even what we're seeing right now, he's finding a way to get it into the back of the net."
NOTES:Pavelski has scored 855 points (400 goals, 455 assists) in 1,104 games with the Stars and San Jose Sharks, including 94 points (45 goals, 49 assists) in 141 games since signing with Dallas as a free agent prior to the 2019-20 season.