Miles Wood scored the overtime winner at 11:03 to cap off the Avalanche’s 4-3 come-from-behind win against the Stars in Game One of the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center in Dallas on Tuesday.
Valeri Nichushkin, Nathan MacKinnon, and Cale Makar scored the first three of four unanswered goals by the Avalanche after trailing 3-0 after 20 minutes.
Alexandar Georgiev made 19 saves for the Avalanche, the No. 3 seed from the Central, who opened the series with a win over the Stars, the No. 1 seed from the Central.
Ryan Suter opened the scoring at 7:26 of the first period with a left-point wrist shot through traffic.
Wyatt Johnston doubled Dallas’ lead at 10:55 with a left-circle snapshot off a faceoff.
Jamie Benn extended their lead on a five-on-three power play when he deflected Jason Robertson’s shot from the top of the left circle at 16:56, giving the Stars a 3-0 lead heading into the first intermission along with a 9-5 advantage in shots on goal.
Nichushkin put Colorado on the board on the power play from the left doorstep, scoring his league-leading eighth goal of the playoffs at 5:31 of the second period. Nichushkin has scored in all six games to start the playoffs, which is a franchise record and tied for the second-longest start in NHL history.
Makar cut the Avalanche’s deficit to one with his third goal of the playoffs at 9:08 on the power play with a wrist shot from the point. With that goal, his 19th-career postseason tally, Makar became the franchise leader in playoff goals, assists, and points among defensemen.
MacKinnon tied the game with his third goal of the playoffs at 39 seconds of the third period from the bottom of the right circle off a rebound.
Wood scored with a backhand drive to the net after beating Miro Heiskanen down the left wing to win the game.
The Avalanche and Stars will face off in Game Two on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. MT from American Airlines Center in Dallas. The game will be broadcast on TNT, MAX, truTV, SN, SN360, and TVAS.
