Colin Blackwell made 17:46 overtime to give Dallas Stars a 4-3 victory over the visiting Colorado Avalanche on Monday in Game 2 in their first round of Stanley Cup playoffs.
The best-by-seven Western Conference series is tied 1-1, with Game 3 set for Wednesday in Denver.
Blackwell was a healthy scratch in Game 1 and was inserted into the lineup and delivered the first playoff winner (and just his second playoffs) in his seven-year-old NHL career. Blackwell’s first shot was blocked by teammate Sam Steel, but Blackwell then deposited his own rebound for the goal.
“The first game we lost, but came the playoffs, (the) most desperate team usually wins every night,” Blackwell said. “… our guys showed a lot of heart there, definitely during the third period (after) we gave up a goal late in the second period.”
Steel had two assists for his third playoff game with several points.
Evgenii Dadonov, Thomas Harley and Tyler Seguin made for the stars in regulation. Jake Oettinger stopped 34 out of 37 shots and bounced back after a hard door loss in game 1.
Logan O’Connor had a goal and an assist for Colorado. Jack Drury and Nathan Mackinnon scored Avalanche’s other goals.
Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 35 out of 39 shots, which made several outstanding stop against an aggressive Dallas attack.
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said: “We handled the puck a little during the third period there, or more than a little. We had some turnover that was forced because of their performance and then we had some others who were not, and I think they all started adding. You start playing in your half of the ball too much and, you know, you know, bad things will happen.
“Much of that (the game) was played fairly evenly. It’s life when you play a team like Dallas Stars. We must be better than we were during the third (period).”
Colorado opened the score on a Power Play 8:48 into the first period. MacKinnon found space in the left circle and then shot a well -placed wrist shot past Oettinger.
With only 54 seconds left in the first period, Seguin got a Power-play marker for the equalizer. It was Seguin’s first goal since November 29, as they missed 58 games during the regular season that recovered from a hip operation.
The law exchanged goals within a 62-second span early in the second period. Harley temporarily gave Dallas his first lead in the series at 3:40, but Drury quickly leveled the score on the ground 4:42.
Following Seguin’s goal at the last minute during the first period, O’Connor struck even deeper into the second frame with a spectacular goal at the 19:27 mark. As he was pulled down by Dallas forward Mason Marchment, O’Connor still had enough strength and leverage to convert a backhanded attempt from the track.
Dadonov again leveled 10:13 into the third period. Wyatt Johnston’s first shot was stopped by Blackwood, but Dadonov was in front of the net to get stuck in rebound.
“We just play the game correctly,” said Blackwell. “Putting pucks behind their (defense) and ending them every time we can. And that was the formula, especially to go to overtime, knowing that (if) we just keep putting pucks in the right areas, something will bounce us.”
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