The playoff atmosphere was electric on Wednesday as the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars clashed in yet another shootout at Ball Arena. Entering the game, the Avalanche held a slim three-point lead over the Stars in the Central Division standings, with a game in hand. Now, that lead has shrunk to just two points.
Despite outshooting the Stars 34-18 over 65 minutes, Colorado fell short in the shootout. This marked the third meeting of the season between these two teams, with all encounters ending in a shootout.
Cale Makar found the back of the net for the Avalanche, who now stand at 44-13-10, just ahead of the Stars (43-15-10) in both the Central Division and the NHL overall.
Head coach Jared Bednar expressed satisfaction with his team's performance, saying, “I’ve said it all along, I’m not going to judge our team on results only. That’s a losing battle.
I think if you play like that, good things will happen. From the goaltender out, everyone was good.”
Scott Wedgewood, who faced a tough outing two nights prior, made a solid comeback with 17 saves, including four critical stops in overtime. He held strong in the shootout against Jason Robertson and Matt Duchene, but Wyatt Johnston's lone tally secured the win for Dallas.
At the other end, Jake Oettinger was a wall, making 33 saves. His standout moment came in the second period, denying Nathan MacKinnon with a stunning save from the slot.
“We gotta get to Oettinger more,” MacKinnon noted. “We’ve outshot them heavily in all three games. We gotta find a way to beat that guy.”
The Stars managed to tie the game in the second period with a rebound goal from Robertson, which followed Makar's power-play opener for the Avalanche. Makar's 20th goal of the season came from a well-executed play, where he moved into the slot and capitalized on a pass from Nazem Kadri.
Throughout the game, the Avalanche demonstrated strong puck movement and pressure, particularly on the power play. They successfully killed off an early penalty and limited the Stars to just two shots in the second period, showcasing a much-improved defensive effort compared to their previous game against the Penguins.
Bednar appreciated the team's physicality, saying, “I liked the physicality of our group.”
Colorado had another power play opportunity in the third, with Makar hitting the crossbar. A subsequent too many men on the ice penalty was effectively killed off by the Avs.
The Good: Strong All-Around Performance
Bednar's perspective is spot on-judging a game solely by its result can be misleading. The Avalanche put on an impressive display against a formidable opponent. While they would have preferred to avoid that late penalty and capitalize on more scoring chances, the overall performance was commendable.
The Challenge: Breaking the Pattern
This isn't the first time the Avalanche have found themselves in this scenario against Dallas. Despite generating better chances and looks, they've repeatedly been stymied by Oettinger's stellar goaltending. MacKinnon, in particular, will be eager to convert more of his opportunities in future matchups.