Stars Lose To Avalanche
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DALLAS — Despite trailing 2-1 after two periods, the Colorado Avalanche never doubted they could beat the Dallas Stars. And thanks to center Ryan O’Reilly scoring the lone goal in the shootout, the Avalanche edged the Stars 5-4 at American Airlines Center on Friday.
O’Reilly, Colorado’s first shooter, beat Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen glove side with a backhand.
“(Center Matt Duchene) gave me a little advice on what to do there. It was a great call by him. I just went down and luckily for me it went in,” O’Reilly said.
Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov, who stopped 32 of 36 shots, was a perfect 3 for 3 in the shootout.
Stars center Jason Spezza missed wide right. Varlamov then poked the puck away from Dallas captain and left winger Jamie Benn, and Varlamov forced a backhand from Dallas’ final shooter, center Vernon Fiddler, wide to end the game.
Colorado defensemen Tyson Barrie and Nate Guenin had a goal and two assists each. Duchene had two assists, and left winger and captain Gabriel Landeskog had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche (27-24-11).
“We were certainly not happy after 40 minutes but we played really
well in the third,” Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. “That’s the type of hockey we’re capable (of playing) and that’s the type of hockey we want to see.”
Center Cody Eakin had two goals and an assist for Dallas, which also got goals from Spezza and left winger Antoine Roussel.
Stars coach Lindy Ruff felt much of the blame for this loss falls on Lehtonen, who stopped 19 of 23 shots, but couldn’t deliver a key save when his team needed it most.
“The goaltending performance doesn’t match the effort of the team,” Ruff said. “You need goaltending. It’s as simple as that. There’s nights that he (the goaltender) has to steal games. Our goaltending has been tough on our team and I think that’s where the frustration is.”
Dallas (27-25-10) struck first when Eakin scored his 13th 2:45 into the second period. Fellow center Ryan Garbutt assisted with a pass from behind the Colorado net.
Garbutt’s pass deflected off the skate of Avalanche center John Mitchell before Eakin blistered a rolling puck into the right side of the Colorado net with a slap shot from the high slot.
Colorado briefly tied it at 9:55 of the second when Barrie scored his 10th with a wrist shot from the right point. Duchene fed Barrie with a pass from the right circle. Barrie then flicked the puck into the right side of the Dallas net, just under Lehtonen’s blocker.
Dallas answered 29 seconds later when Spezza scored his 15th off a rebound to make it 2-1. Left winger Erik Cole saw his initial shot denied with a pad save by Varlamov, but Spezza pounced, firing the puck top shelf into the far side of the net.
The Stars outshot the Avalanche 16-3 in the middle frame.
Eakin’s second of the night, 3:05 into the third period, put Dallas ahead 3-1. His 14th, an unassisted goal, came after he beat Varlamov top shelf on the glove side with a wrist shot from the left circle.
Colorado answered 2:38 later when right winger Jarome Iginla scored his 19th by redirecting a shot from Guenin to make it 3-2. Iginla got his stick on Guenin’s wrist shot from near the Dallas blue line, knocking the puck into the right of the Stars net.
Guenin then tied the game at 3-3 at 6:58 of the third with a wrist shot from the left circle that deflected in off Lehtonen’s pad for his second goal of the season. After a review, the goal was deemed valid.
After Roussel had given Dallas the lead back at 4-3 with his 12th, a wrist shot that trickled in after a pad save from Varlamov, Landeskog tied it again at 13:17 with a redirect of Barrie’s wrist shot from near the Dallas blue line which deflected in off the crossbar.
