In Edmonton, the Colorado Avalanche scored four goals in a stretch of 2:38 en route to a 6-3 win over the Dallas Stars in Game 5 on Monday night.
Michael Hutchinson made 31 saves to get the win in his first career Stanley Cup Playoff start.
“It was exciting,” Hutchinson said. “I’ve had a pretty long career so far, and this was my first playoff start. When you get that news, first thing on my mind was excitement. It’s what you work for when you’re a kid, you dream about [it] playing in the backyard, playing in the Stanley Cup Final.”
The Avs scored a total of five goals in the opening frame and 13 players picked up at least a point in the rout.
“That’s why we end up winning the hockey game,” Avs head coach Jared Bednar said. “You have to have [depth scoring]. You have to score to win the game, and not every night is your top line going to be able to carry you.”
The win extended the series to a Game 6 with the Stars holding a 3-2 advantage.
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Andre Burakovsky (first of two goals on the night), Nathan MacKinnon, and Nazem Kadri posted the four goals; they were one second shy of the NHL record for fastest four goals.
“We knew that we had to show our best self,” Bellemare said. “We were not happy about the way we started the game last game (trailed 3-0 after first period in a 5-4 loss in Game 4). And we knew the situation. … We decided to show the best version of ourselves tonight, in the start at least.”
Mikko Rantanen added the fifth goal in the first period.
“We just clearly weren’t ready to play,” Dallas head coach Rick Bowness said. “We weren’t ready to compete. Again, point your fingers at me and work your way down. Nobody was ready. To defend against that team, it takes hard work. We got outworked. There’s no sugarcoating it. It was clear what was going on. We got outworked, we got outhustled, and it starts with being ready to play. We weren’t.”
Joe Pavelski and Miro Heiskanen scored for the Stars in the middle frame, but the game was already decided.
Jamie Benn put the final bit of lipstick on the pig with a power play goal late in the third period for the final.
“Our first 10 minutes was an absolute joke,” Benn said. “[Bishop] will take the blame and put it on himself, but let’s be honest, we were atrocious in the first 10 minutes. It was 5-0 with four minutes left in the period. This has nothing to do with our goalies. We’re wasting our time if we’re talking about our goalies. We have the luxury of having these two, and when [Bishop] is in the net, we have full confidence in him. We let him down.”
Game 6 is set for Wednesday.
[WATCH: All Stars vs. Avalanche Game 5 highlights]
Ben Bishop got the start and yielded the rapid fire goals on 19 shots; he was given the hook.
“I had an opportunity tonight to close the door,” Bishop said. “You knew they were going to have a push, obviously. Their season is on the line. I’ll take blame. I’ve got to be better. The guys have been playing hard all series, and you’ve got to come up with a save there. No matter what the circumstances are, I’ve been in this situation before and you know they’re going to throw everything at you.”
Anton Khudobin mopped up the mess and made 20 saves.
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