Heika’s Take: Avs use desperation to gain upper hand on Stars, even series

Well, we’re kind of where we thought we would be right now in this best-of-seven series between Dallas and Colorado.

Sure, the Stars were hoping for a closer game than the 4-0 drubbing that occurred in Game 4 at Ball Arena on Saturday. But the fact that the series is tied at 2-2 and Dallas has two of the final three games at home, well, that’s a pretty good place to be.

“That’s a good hockey team over there,” Stars forward Tyler Seguin said. “They responded tonight and we’ve got a chance to do that at home in a couple of days. We never thought this was going to be won in four or five games, so we’re excited to respond at home.”

Dallas lost Game 1 at home and then won Game 2 in overtime at AAC. The Stars then won Game 3 in overtime in Denver and lost Game 4 when the Avalanche were simply more desperate. With the Stars leading the series and two of the next three games on the road, the Avalanche had to have an energized performance, and they did. Colorado finished with a 48-23 advantage in shots on goal and a 93-54 edge in shot attempts.

Had it not been for a stellar performance by Jake Oettinger in goal, the score could have been much worse.

“We knew they were going to come out with a big push,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “This is as close to a must-win as you can get for them. We knew there was going to be a big push and I actually thought we handled it fairly well. I thought if we could have weathered that storm and maybe scored a goal – we had a few looks on the power play early – so if we got that first goal maybe something changes. But the shorthanded goal is obviously a backbreaker.”

The game really did turn on a couple of plays, which is a good lesson for the Stars. Dallas was on the power play midway through the first period when Colorado’s Logan O’Connor muscled Thomas Harley off the puck at the point. He found himself with the puck in space and scored on Oettinger shorthanded. Dallas still had the man advantage, but couldn’t convert its chances. Then, as the period was starting to wind down, Mason Marchment was whistled for elbowing Colorado defenseman Cale Makar. Marchment protested the penalty vehemently, but it fell in line with the kind of borderline play that the Stars are trying to avoid against Colorado.

Dallas did a good job of killing the penalty until Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon made it 2-0 with just five seconds left on the man advantage and 23.4 seconds left in the period.

That was, of course, a huge momentum boost for Colorado heading into the second. The Avalanche built on that, as they dominated the middle frame and got a huge goal from captain Gabriel Landeskog, who last scored a goal more than 1,000 days ago. Landeskog returned for his first game in almost three years in Game 3, and then added the goal on Saturday. That is a huge motivating factor for Colorado.

"It means a lot,” Landeskog said. “Obviously, I've envisioned scoring again for a long time, so it feels good. It's a tight playoff series and a big game here at home, get to do it in front of our fans. Obviously it means a lot. So super exciting. Hopefully more to come."

Makar said Landeskog’s teammates feed off of that energy.

“I mean, if he can come back and be even the slightest thing of what he was before, just to put it in perspective, I mean, come back three years, like, that's incredible,” Makar said. “I mean, especially just coming straight into playoff hockey. For him to be able to do that, we'll take anything we can get. It’s nice to have him around the room, obviously, playing.”

It was clear the Avalanche grabbed full momentum as they pushed home a 4-0 win. DeBoer pulled Oettinger to give him rest, and Casey DeSmith looked good in relief. While the defeat was decisive, the Stars were resilient afterward.

“Give them credit, they played well,” said Matt Duchene. “It’s tough to give up a shorty and a PP in the first period. We had some good shifts 5-on-5, but you get behind the 8-ball there. They had a really good second and we were just taking on too much water tonight. They were desperate, they knew they pretty much needed to win that one.

“We’ll lick our wounds tonight and reset and get ready for Game 5,” he added.

After all, the series is tied 2-2 and Dallas has two of the final three games at home.

“Obviously, they were better than us tonight, and now it’s all about your response in a playoff series like this,” DeBoer said. “I think we know we can play better, and we have to play better, but we’ve worked to put ourselves in a good spot with three games left to go.”

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.