In Dallas, the Stars blew a three-goal lead in their Game 1 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday night. 
On Thursday, the Stars nearly topped that by coming close to blowing a four-goal lead in Game 2.
Dallas took a 4-0 lead into the third period.
The Avalanche rallied back with three straight goals to close the gap to 4-3.
Joel Kiviranta got the rally started with a strike at 4:06, he scored off a rebound to make it 4-1.
Brandon Duhaime trimmed the deficit to 4-2 at 8:00, he scored after collecting a pass form Andrew Cogliano and shooting from the high slot.
“It looked like we wanted to attack and force them to make mistakes, and that’s when we’re at our best,” the Avs’ Cale Makar said. “So, guys did a really good job of making plays. And when we move our feet, we exploit them and find open seams. So, a lot of guys made some great plays on those goals. And again, that’s a one positive you can take out of tonight, but again, move on.”
Valeri Nichushkin closed the gap to one goal at 4-3, with a strike at 16:16, scoring from the left circle.
Dallas put an end to the rally when Esa Lindell hit an empty net with 21 seconds left on the regulation clock for the 5-3 final count on the scoreboard.
Miro Heiskanen hit for a double in the Dallas win.
Jake Oettinger made 28 saves in the win.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs second round series is tied at 1-1.
“It’s 1-1 now. We were down 2-0 against Vegas (in the first round), it’s a long way from there. It’s a lot better to be 1-1, huge win for us,” Heiskanen said. “We still need to be better. We gave them a little bit too much time and space in the third, but we found a way to win the game and that’s the most important thing.”
Game 2 is set for Denver on Saturday.
“It just seems we weren’t skating enough with the puck and we weren’t getting separation from them. They were doing a good job checking,” Cogliano said. “We have to support the puck a little bit better, we have to get our legs moving and get more of a north game with our legs and our skating. I think a combination of both probably is what didn’t help us in the first period and put us behind.”
Heiskanen potted his first of the match at 14:46 of the opening stanza for a 1-0 lead to the Stars, scoring off a one-timer form the the left circle, near the bottom.
“We got scoring from the right guys. Roope [Hintz] looked like Roope tonight. Miro [Heiskanen] had a couple of big goals and Tyler Seguin with a goal, so the right guys got on the board for us,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “Those guys want to be difference-makers, and they’re used to being difference-makers. It’s critical that those guys started to score.”
Roope Hintz pushed the advantage to 2-0 on off a rush up ice, scoring off a snap shot at 1:57 of the middle frame.
“He’s been right there. He’s getting a lot of looks. As a forward in maybe a slump, that’s all you can ask for,” Dallas forward Mason Marchment said of Hintz. “Eventually, they’re going to go in. He was skating, he was physical, winning battles. We’re going to need him to be a horse like he was tonight.”
Heiskanen collected his double on a power play strike at 15:54 for a 3-0 lead. He scored off a shot from atop the left circle. The shot deflected in off the stick of Colorado’s Cogliano.
On the penalty kill, Tyler Seguin hit for a shorthanded marker at 18:06 of the second, he put in a loose rebound for the 4-0 lead headed to the third period.
“The second period though, for me, is where it fell apart. Just not sharp,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “I mean, just go to the penalties alone and it shows you’re not sharp. You had two too-many-men-on-the-ice penalties. You had two over-the-glass penalties that are not forced. So, it’s eight minutes of power play you’re giving a really good power-play team. And the rest of our execution and frustration kind of keeps building from there. Did not like the second period at all.”
Alexandar Georgiev made 26 saves in the loss.
“It felt like a lot of those goals were on us. Just unfortunate they just kind of keep compounding like that early in the game and then we’ve got to dig ourselves out of the hole,” Makar said. “Not [an] ideal way to win games but there was a lot of compete in that third period, so you’ve got to take that as a positive.”
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