In Edmonton, the Dallas Stars were looking to extend their lead in Game 4 on Sunday evening.
Anton Khudobin made 33 saves as the Stars held off the Colorado Avalanche late in a 5-4 win.
The Stars now hold a 3-1 advantage in the series.
Dallas scored three times in the third period and used goals from Roope Hintz, on the power play, and Denis Gurianov‘s goal 32 seconds later to stretch the lead to 5-2.
“I mean we had that tough first 5-10 minutes but end of the first we were buzzing, completely outplayed them in the second, felt good going into the third, had the power play, had a good seven or eight minutes of the third,” Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon said. “I don’t know what the scoring chances were, but we had a lot of good tips in front, things like that. Then they get the fourth one, just deflating, and I guess that’s why I thought we should’ve won.”
Gurianov’s goal came off an errant puck that bounced to the crease where he poked it home.
“A lot of players are feeling really good about their game right now and that’s why we’re such a confident group,” Dallas’ John Klingberg said. “… Something that we were talking about to start of camp in August, we wanted the D to be more involved, get more O-zone time, and that’s one of the keys to why you’re seeing more offense.”
Valeri Nichushkin struck for two goals, and Cale Makar added a single marker in the lo9ss.
“They came out hard, earned their bounces and all of a sudden we’re down 3-0,” the Avs’ Gabriel Landeskog said. “We started playing and obviously we got better as the game wore on, especially in the second period. We were looking good at times and had a push to tie it up in the third. But getting down in the hole early didn’t help us.”
Jamie Benn, Radek Faksa and Klingberg also scored for the Stars.
“It just seems like when one team gets one goal, it kind of gives them a boost,” Benn said. “We found a way to get three quick ones early there (in the first period). They’re a good team, they are going to battle back. … I’m not sure why it’s going back and forth like this, but it is and you’ve just got to handle the momentum as it comes and not get too high, not get too low.”
Vladislav Namestnikov scored with four seconds left on the clock to put an end to the scoring.
“We definitely did some good things today, but we didn’t get the job done,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said. “Penalties tonight. [Penalty kill] has to be better (3-for-6), goaltending has to improve a little bit, discipline has to improve, and we all have to dig in more on the defensive side of things. We’re scoring enough. We have to win one game.”
Game 5 is set for Monday.
[WATCH:Â All Avalanche vs. Stars highlights]
Pavel Francouz got the start for the Avs and made 21 saves while allowing all five goals.He got the hook at 8:02 of the third when Michael Hutchinson played mop up and made three saves.
“We’re keeping our composure,” said Benn, who referenced when Dallas defeated the Calgary Flames 7-3 in Game 6 of the first round after trailing 3-0 in the first period. “We know how hard that Game 6 was against Calgary. Obviously we didn’t get off to a good start at all. We’ll sit on this one for a couple of hours but move on and get right back at it tomorrow.”
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