|
 Turns out, they didn't need any of it.
Center Paul Stastny had two goals and an assist as part of
Colorado's four-goal second period, and the Avalanche beat the
Dallas Stars 6-2 Monday night.
Stastny finished with a season-high four points.
"Tonight, the door opened for us," said Avalanche right wing P.A.
Parenteau, who had three assists. "It nice to see, it's good for our
confidence, it's good for everyone. It's nice to get the offense
going like that."
Defensemen Andre Benoit and Erik Johnson also scored in the second
period, and center Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Tyson Barrie
added goals for the Avalanche, who are 3-0 against the Stars this
season.
The teams play again Tuesday in Dallas.
Center Tyler Seguin had a goal and an assist, and defenseman Ken
Connauton also scored for the Stars, who lost for the third time in
four games.
The Stars came into the game ranked 23rd on the penalty kill were
stingy against the Avalanche despite giving up plenty of shots.
Instead of getting frustrated, Colorado dominated at even strength.
"The power play was really good, to be honest," said Avalanche coach
Patrick Roy, whose team went 0-for-5 on the man advantage. "We had a
lot of shots. What else can you do? I don't want to over talk about
the power play; tonight we didn't need the power play."
Especially Stastny, who broke out of a nine-game scoring drought
against a team that brings out his best. He had two goals against
the Stars on Nov. 1, and his only hat trick came against them on
Oct. 3, 2007.
"I don't know, it's nothing special," said Stastny, whose previous
goal and assist came Nov. 19. "Against some teams, you can play the
same way every time and sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it
doesn't."
It worked Monday. His first goal, 8:29 into the second, broke a 1-1
tie. Benoit made it 3-1 with his second goal of the season at 13:42,
and Stastny followed with his 10th just 2:50 later to make it 4-1.
"They came out strong and jumped all over us," Dallas left winger
Jamie Benn said. "We laid an egg."
Johnson finished off the period by scoring on a slap shot with three
seconds left to give Colorado a 5-1 lead heading into intermission.
"We were undisciplined," Dallas coach Lindy Ruff said. "We took some
bad penalties, and that led to a little bit of energy for them."
[to top of second column] |
It could have been a 6-1 lead, but goaltender Kari Lehtonen
stopped MacKinnon on a breakaway early in the second.
Seguin's 18th goal 3:26 into the third made it 5-2, but Barrie
answered later in the period on Stastny's second assist and
fourth point of the night.
"It felt good to get that one," Barrie said. "I've had a few
chances, but nothing has been going for me, so it was nice to
get."
Colorado outshot the Stars 48-33.
The Avalanche scored first when MacKinnon beat Lehtonen with a
wrist shot from the left circle at 10:38 of the first period.
Lehtonen allowed a season-high goal total while stopping 42
shots.
Colorado was poised to build on the lead with a two-man
advantage for 1:39. The Avalanche kept the puck in Dallas' zone
for most of the time but managed just three shots. Moments after
the first penalty expired, Colorado center Matt Duchene was
called for hooking.
Dallas took advantage of the 4-on-4 when Connauton redirected
Seguin's cross-ice pass past Colorado goalie Semyon Varlamov
with 33 seconds left in the period.
It was Connauton's first NHL goal.
"I was elated," Connauton said. "The elation wore off pretty
quick — as quick as it took them to take over in the second
period."
Varlamov finished with 31 saves.
NOTES: Avalanche D Ryan Wilson was expected to return to the
lineup after missing 17 games with a back injury, but he was
scratched. Wilson was hurt Nov. 6 against Nashville. He also
missed most of training camp and the first four games of the
season. ... Dallas RW Alex Chiasson began the night sixth in
rookie scoring with 17 points (eight goals, nine assists), and
fellow RW Valeri Nichushkin was seventh with 16 points (5-11).
... Colorado does not have a power-play goal in its past 11
games (0-for-31) after going 0-for-5 Monday. ... The Stars fell
to 8-3-1 in their past 12 road games. ... Avalanche D Cory
Sarich assisted on the first goal to extend his points streak to
four games.
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