Takin’ Care Of Business — Colorado Avalanche Slip By Dallas Stars 4-3

It’s not how you start, but how you finish. That goes for this afternoon’s game between the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars, and the Avalanche are hoping it will be the story of their season as well.

The Stars dominated the first period of play against the Avalanche, and were rewarded with a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room. It appeared that the Dallas Stars players were eager to put on a show for their dads, who were in attendance today.

Brett Ritchie tipped in a Tyler Seguin shot before many of the attendee’s butts had touched their seats this afternoon. The goal came with just 27 seconds elapsed, and set the tone for the rest of the period.

Dallas forechecked the Avalanche hard, and the Avs struggled to handle that type of pressure. Zone exits were a struggle, and coverage in front of the net was a disaster.

Also a disaster, the two early power play opportunities the Avalanche were afforded. The Avs managed a single shot on goal in a pair of early PP’s, which isn’t how you get things done.

Dallas did get things done, with a Colton Sceviour backhand goal at 9:24. Semyon Varlamov allowed 2 goals on the first 3 shots he faced today, after stopping 90-of-92 in his prior two games.

Max Talbot had the best two chances of the period. He just missed a deflection on a Nathan MacKinnon pass moments after the Stars scored their second goal, and late in the period, Kari Lehtonen robbed Talbot with the glove on a shot from between the circles.

The second period was much, much better for the Avalanche. The Avalanche started doing to Dallas, what Dallas did to the Avs during the first 20 minutes. The Avs started forechecking, and winning all of the puck battles and footraces.

Erik Johnson opened the scoring for the Avalanche, with a nifty backhand at 7:18. The Condor now leads NHL defenseman with 12 goals this season. That’s some carnage, right there.

John Mitchell showed us the value of getting shots on net, and equalized moments later. Max Talbot provided distraction in front of the net, and the long-range shot from Mitchell found it’s way in.

The Avalanche weren’t done. Talbot made a steal, and fed to Nathan MacKinnon who streaked in on a mini-breakaway. MacKinnon was stopped by Lehtonen, but Lehtonen’s pad was in the net. The ref on the ice called it a good-hockey-goal, and after a lengthy review, the call on the ice stood. One of my preview keys to the game was winning the race to three goals, and the Avalanche won that race. Standing ovation from the crowd as they went to the locker room.

The third period started off with a bang. A Matt Duchene induced bang to be more specific. Dutchy took a puck from behind the net, and in a Forsberg-esque manner spun from backhand to forehand after coming in front of the net and sniped the biscuit home. Really nice to see Duchene get one, and it turned out to be the game winner, because Ales Hemsky brought the Stars to within a goal later in the period.

The Avalanche held on for a 4-3 win. A regulation win. The Avalanche are now guaranteed to be within three points of a wild-card spot when they go to bed tonight. They have also jumped over Minnesota and Dallas in the standings in the past 48 hours. A road trip of monumental importance awaits the Avalanche next week.

Final Thoughts

• You might have read Max Talbot’s name a lot in the recap, and that’s because he was an absolute monster tonight. Best game of the season for Talbot. He was hard on the forecheck, and had a huge hit in the second period that really swung the momentum. He was relentless in his hustle and puck pursuit as well. Talbot’s role when playing with a guy like Nathan MacKinnon is to be an energy guy, and forecheck hard. This creates opportunities for the talented No. 29 to do his thing. The smooth passing from Talbot was a bonus tonight.

• The Avalanche power play needs help. Lots of help.

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• Aside from his goal, this wasn’t the strongest game for Erik Johnson. For those who read my game preview, EJ spread his wings, but he didn’t clench the talons this afternoon. EJ had two delay of game penalties, and also had some errors that led to Dallas goals and scoring chances.

• It’s been a while since I’ve heard much from Tyson Barrie. Not sure if teams are keying on him, or what. It seems like Barrie has lost his confidence to really jump up into the offense lately. Perhaps playing so many minutes with Nate Guenin has had a role in this phenomena.

• I already talked about Talbot, but as a whole that Talbot/MacKinnon/Mitchell line was outstanding for the Avalanche tonight.

• On the flip side, the Ryan O’Reilly, Jarome Iginla, and Alex Tanguay line didn’t have a great game. I think Roy tried to match O’Reilly up on Tyler Seguin, but the Seguin and Benn duo dominated the above mentioned Avs’ trio every single time they were on the ice together.

• Let’s keep this thing rolling on the road, shall we!?