Colorado Avalanche Late Comeback Leaves Dallas Seeing Stars

The Colorado Avalanche visited the Dallas Stars for the first time this season. They had previously hosted the Stars twice at Pepsi Center, but this was their first trip to American Airlines Center in Dallas.

The Colorado Avalanche didn’t start out strong. But, boy, did they finish strong. They ended up winning in the shootout, final score 3-2.

Four Shots, Four Shots

The Colorado Avalanche managed four shots in the first period. They managed four shots in the second period. Even sharp shooter Alex Tanguay is going to have a tough time scoring with only eight shots put up by the Avalanche. Especially since by the second period he had no shots on goal. Neither did Matt Duchene. Neither did Gabriel Landeskog. Neither did Jarome Iginla– ok, practically no one had any shots. Ryan O’Reilly had two and, surprisingly, Nick Holden had two.

To be fair, the Avalanche hadn’t gone crazy allowing a ton of shots from Dallas. I mean, by the second period, the Stars had 19 shots, but that’s pretty modest from the Avs’ perspective.

Speaking of…

Defensive Hockey is Boring

The game was hyped as a battle of the offense. As well it should. The two teams had scored 14 goals total in their two games against each other. The Avalanche won both those matches, 5-2 and 4-3.

This was like Minnesota Wild hockey. The neutral zone was so clogged up. Neither team was using any speed or even puck handling skill to get through the neutral zone. They each made long pass after long pass.

Don’t Give us a Man-Advantage

The Colorado Avalanche play better even-strength hockey. Once they draw a penalty and get a man-advantage, their momentum is lost. They look lost.

They stand around and pass. Every now and again they make a little shot toward the net, which gets knocked out of the zone because no one besides Erik Johnson can keep the puck in the zone, and he’s out with a knee injury. They casually skate back for the puck.

The second power play the Avalanche had against the Stars looked like it might have potential. Then the referees started interfering, it broke up their tiny bit of momentum, and that was that. Not a single shot on net.

Of course, one of goalie Semyon Varlamov‘s best saves came on the first Colorado Avalanche power play. That’s right, the Colorado Avalanche goalie had to make a spectacular save on the Avalanche’s power play.

Pandora’s Box

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One of the cruelest emotions is hope. And the Colorado Avalanche are cruel in how they dangle hope. Just as we fans write them off, Avalanche center Ryan O’Reilly goes and scores a goal. It was just their 10th shot.

And then…. Late in the third…. Head coach Patrick Roy Roy pulls the goalie… The Avalanche come on like gangbusters and score in the waning seconds of the game. Tyson Barrie, Mr. Clutch, scored. Game tied.

Hope is so cruel, as the Dallas Stars can tell you. The Avalanche had the momentum after that. It showed in the overtime period, though they didn’t get the score then. And it showed in the shootout, which went an impressive 11 rounds. Both teams had to dig deep, but Max Talbot got the game winner.

Dallas out-played the Avalanche for most of the game, but Colorado came on when it counted.

The Colorado Avalanche host the Dallas Stars on Valentine’s Day. Between now and then they have to host the formerly rival Detroit Red Wings first.

Next: Colorado Avalanche Understand Importance of February Games