[December 18, 2013]DALLAS — It has been a great four
days for Dallas Stars rookie center Colton Sceviour. After scoring his
first NHL goal in a 6-4 win at Winnipeg on Saturday, Sceviour found the
net again, this time for a third-period game-winner in a 3-2 win over
the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday at American Airlines Center.
Sceviour, who was leading the AHL in goals when he was recalled on
Dec. 9, delivered his latest tally in his fourth NHL game. This one
came with 2:52 remaining in the third period on a breakaway after a
pass from center Rich Peverley near the Colorado blue line.
"Any time you score a game-winning goal, it's exciting, especially
at the NHL level, it's even more exciting and late in the third like
that," Sceviour said. "It was a great feeling for sure, glad it went
in."
On Monday, Colorado defeated Dallas 6-2 in Denver in the first game
of the back-to-back set.
On Tuesday, Dallas (16-12-5) got two goals from left winger Ray
Whitney and two assists from rookie right winger Alex Chiasson.
Stars backup goaltender Dan Ellis made 25 saves to earn his fourth
win.
"He (Ellis) played well the last home game here against Philadelphia
and he played well tonight," Stars head coach Lindy Ruff said. "That
gives you a lot of confidence."
Colorado (22-10-1) struck first when center Matt Duchene scored his
15th goal off a rebound 2:37 into the game. The Avalanche were on a
four-minute power play after Dallas left winger Ryan Garbutt earned
a double minor for high sticking Colorado defenseman Andre Benoit
1:03 into the game.
After Ellis denied a slap shot by Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson
from near the blue line, Duchene flipped the rebound into the right
side of the net to make it 1-0.
The Stars answered when Whitney scored off a pass from center Shawn
Horcoff to tie it at 7:31 of the first period.
"It's always nice to score when you've been dry for a while,"
Whitney said. "Confidence is a big part of this game, and it's nice
to get that out of the way. Hopefully that will be it for that for
the rest of the year."
The Avalanche recaptured the lead at 10:20 of the second when
Johnson scored his second of the year on a wrister from the right
faceoff circle.
Dallas tied the game again when Whitney scored his second of the
night from the right circle, beating Colorado goaltender
Jean-Sebastien Giguere to the far post at 17:19 with the Stars on
the power play.
One big plus for the Stars in the win was the performance of
their penalty kill, a unit that killed off five straight
Colorado power plays after allowing the goal by Duchene on the
first opportunity of the game.
Dallas had a great chance to pull ahead in the third, going on
the power play at 5:05 when Colorado defenseman Tyson Barrie was
called for tripping. The Stars then gained a two-man edge at
6:20 when Benoit shot a puck over the boards, but Dallas was
unable to convert and the score remained 2-2.
Ellis delivered his biggest save of the night when he turned
away a shot at close range by Colorado left wing and captain
Gabriel Landeskog with 4:52 remaining with the visitors on the
power play in a tie game.
"I had seen a little bit of their power play with him practicing
that in the pregame skate, so I knew he had a good one-timer,"
Ellis said. "That's what I was expecting."
Ellis also stood tall during a flurry in the game's final
half-minute, a push by Colorado that came after Giguere left the
ice. Giguere stopped 25 shots.
"It's too bad because we played a good game," Avalanche head
coach Patrick Roy said. "Overall, I thought it was a great
performance by our team. Nothing to show for it, but details at
the end cost us at least a point."
NOTES: Avalanche D Nate Guenin, C Brad Malone and D Ryan Wilson
(back) were scratches. ... Dallas scratched C Dustin Jeffrey, D
Jamie Oleksiak and D Aaron Rome. ... D Nick Holden returned to
the ice for Colorado for the first time since Dec. 12 at
Winnipeg. ... Tuesday marked the Dallas debut for D Cameron
Gaunce, who was recalled from AHL Texas earlier in the day.
Gaunce, acquired by Dallas in an April 2013 trade with Colorado,
was a second-round pick of the Avalanche in 2008 and made his
NHL debut for Colorado in February 2011. ... The goal scored by
Colorado C Matt Duchene early in the first period was the
Avalanche's first power-play tally in 12 games. ... Dallas LW
Ray Whitney ended a 13-game scoring drought with his second of
the season in the first period. ... The announced attendance was
15,143.
