If there was any question about which Colorado Avalanche team would show up on Saturday afternoon in Dallas, a convincing 2-0 win over the Stars emphatically shut down any doubts.
The Avalanche got a third-period goal from Martin Necas, his 36th, to notch a huge win over the Stars. Nathan MacKinnon added his league-leading 51st goal of the season to ice the victory.
Meanwhile, Scott Wedgewood made 17 saves in what was a defensive clinic by the Avalanche. The team that showed up on Saturday in Dallas is what fans can expect to see in the postseason.
The Avs rebounded from a stinker last Wednesday that saw them drop an 8-6 decision to the lowly Vancouver Canucks.
The sloppy game, as wild as that comeback was, was not something that Jared Bednar wanted to see from his team. It was even more glaring that it came at the hands of the Canucks.
Be that as it may, the Avalanche could not afford another sloppy outing against the Stars. The message got through, and came up with one of the best efforts we’ve seen from the team all season.
And that’s a big statement for a team that’s been dominant the whole season.
If this is what a potential second-round series could look like between the Stars and Avalanche, it will be a crying shame that these two clubs meet in the second round and not in the Western Conference.
The bright side is that if the Avalanche can play like this against the Stars, they’ll likely steamroll anyone they face from the Pacific Division in the Conference Final. It’s tough to see the Edmonton Oilers or Vegas Golden Knights breaking through the type of defensive structure the Avalanche showed on Saturday night.
Incidentally, the game was so tight, but it was Martin Necas who exploited an innocuous mistake by Dallas defenseman Lian Bichsel for the game-winner. Those types mistake, such as not getting a stick on a cross-ice feed, may not be that bad early in the season.
But when games get as tight as they do at this point in the season and in the playoffs, they can decide games.
That’s what happened on Saturday, and the Avalanche now have an eight-point lead on the Stars for the top spot in the Central Division. The Avs have two games in hand, pretty much locking up the division title and the top seed in the West.
The Avs can take care of that part of business Sunday night against the St. Louis Blues.