It seemed like a huge blow to the Avalanche, who had struggled with consistency in this series. But, out of nowhere, Miro Heiskanen had a bad turnover that helped lead to a Miko Rantanen goal at the 12:02 mark to tie the game back up, and Nazem Kadri tipped in a Kevin Connauton shot to give Colorado the lead once again.
It could be called a collapse by the Stars, but Bowness didn't see it that way. Yes, Heiskanen had a rough third period and finished the game minus-3, but the coach said that's just hockey.
"Stuff happens in the game of hockey," Bowness said. "That fourth goal of their's, we have control of the puck and we fall down. They make a great play, that's hockey. There's things out there that we can't control. They made a good play and they made us pay."
Just as the Stars have made Colorado pay at times during this series.
And even though this particular loss is disappointing, even though Heiskanen had to fight off a cross-check late in the game that may have hobbled him, even though Khudobin's confidence might be shaken, the Stars are pretty happy having a 2-1 lead in the series.
"We gave them a couple of goals in the second period, which is a little upsetting - a couple of easy goals. So we can fix that," Bowness said. "If it takes six or seven games, that's what it takes. We'll respond. We responded when we were down 3-1, we've responded all year to challenges like we faced tonight, and I'm confident in that room in our leadership and character of our players, and their desire to win. And I'm very confident we'll respond next game."
