Stars escape early hole, rout Avs for 2-0 series lead

[August 25, 2020]  Thanks to a four-goal, second-period outburst, the Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-2 on Monday in Edmonton to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference semifinal series.

Dallas, led by Alexander Radulov's two-point night, will look to take a commanding lead when the teams meet for Game 3 of the best-of-seven set on Wednesday in Edmonton.

The Stars have been impressive while winning five straight games, including their clinching victory over the Calgary Flames in the opening round, a game in which they erased a 3-0 deficit and won 7-3.

This time, the Stars responded after falling behind 2-0 nearing the midway point of the second period. Only 70 seconds after Mikko Rantanen put the Avalanche up by a pair, Dallas collected a power-play goal, then added another 43 seconds later to draw even.

First, Joe Pavelski converted during a five-on-three advantage by one-timing Radulov's crossing pass at 9:54 of the middle frame. Then, Radek Faksa tied the affair by pouncing on a loose puck.

Radulov took his turn lighting the lamp with a lucky goal that ended up as the game-winner. Jamie Benn's cross-ice pass from the side boards ricocheted off the stick of Colorado defender Sam Girard and off Radulov's body before going into the net at the 15:34 mark of a wild second period.

An insurance goal came courtesy Esa Lindell with 45.2 seconds remaining in the frame. Lindell elected to shoot on a two-on-one rush, and he buried the rebound attempt after Avalanche goalie Pavel Francouz made the original save.

Avalanche goaltender Pavel Francouz (39) covers the puck ahead of Dallas Stars right wing Corey Perry (10) during the first period in game two of the second round of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place. Mandatory Credit: Gerry Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

Francouz was in net after No. 1 goalie Philipp Grubauer was injured in the series opener, leaving him out indefinitely.

Jamie Oleksiak iced the game with an empty-net tally in the final seconds for the Stars, who received a 38-save performance from goalie Anton Khudobin.

The loss was even more of a stunner for the Avalanche, who grabbed a 2-0 lead thanks to a dominating opening 29 minutes, led by Nathan MacKinnon, who opened the scoring with a power-play goal at the 6:08 mark and ran his point-scoring streak to 10 games. But after he and Rantanen combined for another goal, it was all Dallas.

On top of being without Grubauer, the Avalanche were missing defenseman Erik Johnson, who was injured in the opener. Kevin Connauton took his place.

--Field Level Media

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