In Denver, the Dallas Stars got their “A” game going on Saturday night.
In Game 3 of their second round Stanley Cup Playoffs series with the Avalanche, the Stars put their defense and offense on display in a 4-1 win over the Avs.
Dallas now has a 2-1 series lead, and home ice advantage back, headed to Monday’s Game 4 in Denver.
Dallas needed two empty-net strikes in the final minute of the game to ice the win.
“I’ve said it last year in the playoffs, I’ve said it this year in the playoffs, [Oettinger] has the ability to raise his game at the most important times,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “I thought tonight when it was most hectic, he was the calmest player on the ice for us. Which is what you need your goaltender to be, to give you that calming influence. I think that’s what he does for us when he’s playing like he is right now.”
Tyler Seguin and Logan Stankoven hit for doubles in Dallas win.
With the score, 2-1, entering the final minute of regulation in the third, Dallas hit for two empty-net markers in nine seconds.
Seguin scored at 19:23 and Stankoven scored at 19:32 for the 4-1 final count on the scoreboard.
“I think our group took it personally when everyone questioned whether we could hold a lead in the third. It was warranted with how the first two games went,” DeBoer said. “But we knew we were better than that. We’ve been really good in those situations all year, been great on the road all year. We just felt comfortable tonight. The details of our game tonight were outstanding.
“I don’t think a coach has ever seen a perfect game, but that’s as close to a perfect road game as you can play, in my mind, coming into this situation. We knew they were going to come out guns-a-blazing in the first period. You knew their home record. You knew they had challenged their best players, their coach did after last game. So, we knew we were going to get a lot thrown at us early in that game. Our composure throughout the night was outstanding.”
Jake Oettinger made 28 saves in the win.
“You never know when the moment might be too big for a young player, but [Stankoven’s] handled everything we’ve thrown at him and excelled,” DeBoer said. “He’s made every line he’s played on better. And never mind the scoring, his defensive details and his awareness and responsibility on the ice, and when he’s got the puck, is way beyond his years.”
Stankoven potted his first of the game at at 18:39 of the opening stanza to give the Stars a 1-0 lead. He scored off a wrister form the left circle. 1
“I think it’s always nice to contribute. I feel like I’ve been doing the right things but just couldn’t find the back of the net,” Stankoven said. “There’s always bumps in the road being a young guy in the League, so I’m just trying to find my way and earn the coaches’ trust.”
Mikko Rantanen was the lone striker for the Avalanche., he tied the game, 1-1, midway through the second frame. Rantanen
He scored off a rebound of a shot by Nathan MacKinnon.
“I thought we did a lot of great things. We really had a lot of chances, a lot of good looks,” MacKinnon said. “Just Oettinger was great, and we made a couple of big errors that cost us.”
Dallas regained the lead on Seguin’s first of the night at 15:13 of the middle frame, he scored off a deflection of a shot/pass from Evgenii Dadonov.
“We knew coming into this rink how these guys play. We also know how we play on the road,” said Seguin. “We knew it’d be a big challenge. I think next game’s going to be an even bigger challenge, but playoffs are about those moments and getting the right bounces at times as well, and we had that tonight.”
Alexandar Georgiev made 19 saves in the loss.
“I felt like we carried some long stretches of the game for the first 40 minutes. My one take would be we’ve got to make it a little bit tougher on Oettinger, getting traffic there,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “We had a couple of really good looks in the first and didn’t do it. We had a couple of really good looks in the second and next thing you know, we’re down by one.
“Just kind of feels like we push, push, push and then we make one mistake and it ended up in the back of the net in the second, which is unfortunate. But you can’t make those mistakes against Dallas because they have the ability to [capitalize].”
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