DENVER -- Wyatt Johnston had two goals and an assist, and the Dallas Stars pushed the Colorado Avalanche to the brink with a 5-1 win in Game 4 of the Western Conference Second Round at Ball Arena on Monday.
The Stars have won three straight in the best-of-7 series. Game 5 will be in Dallas on Wednesday.
Miro Heiskanen had a goal and two assists, Sam Steel had a goal and an assist, and Jason Robertson had two assists for the Stars, who are the No. 1 seed from the Central Division. Jake Oettinger made 26 saves.
Casey Mittelstadt scored, and Alexandar Georgiev made 28 saves for the Avalanche, who are the No. 3 seed from the Central.
Johnston gave Dallas a 1-0 lead with a short-handed goal at 15:37 of the first period. After he forced a turnover by Cale Makar along the goal line, Johnston jammed in his third chance from the edge of the crease.
Johnston then scored a power-play goal to extend the lead to 2-0 at 5:46 of the second period. He took a slap pass from Robertson below the left circle and scored with a one-timer that deflected in off the side of Georgiev.
Heiskanen made it 3-0 at 11:24 with a wrist shot from just inside the blue line that went in off the right shoulder of Georgiev.
Mittelstadt cut the lead to 3-1 at 12:35, curling the puck out from behind the net and beating Oettinger to the far side under his glove.
Evgenii Dadonov made it 4-1 at 9:27 of the third period. Mason Marchment located the rebound of Heiskanen’s point shot and kicked the puck over to Dadonov for a shot from the edge of the crease.
Steel scored into an empty net at 18:10 for the 5-1 final.
Stars forward Roope Hintz left the game late in the first period with an upper-body injury after blocking a shot.
Prior to the game, Avalanche forward Valeri Nichushkin was placed in Stage 3 of the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program. Under the terms of the joint program, Nichushkin will be suspended without pay for a minimum of six months and then will be eligible to apply for reinstatement.
