The Dallas Stars won a critical Game 2 in their Western Conference second-round series against the Colorado Avalanche at American Airlines Center on Thursday night, but the team nearly blew a multi-goal lead for the second time in as many contests.
Pete DeBoer's club led by as much as 4-0 heading into the third period, and it looked like they would cruise to the victory. Instead, the Avalanche scored three unanswered goals — one by Valeri Nichushkin with under four minutes left — to get within one.
Fortunately for Dallas, history did not repeat itself as it did in Game 1, when the Stars watched a 3-0 led turn into a 4-3 overtime loss. Still, the Stars' bench boss knows his team needs to be better with the lead after Thursday's 5-3 final.
“Obviously, I think we can handle those situations better. But I think that the silver lining is that we built 3-0 and 4-0 leads, so we've played some very good hockey for long stretches against them,” said the bench boss, according to the Associated Press' Stephen Hawkins. “I thought tonight was better than Game 1. We did most of the things that we wanted to do tonight. Building that lead, the right guys scored, got on the board for us.”
Roope Hintz was the catalyst of Thursday's win, playing his best game of the postseason and recording a point on four of Dallas' five goals (one goal, three assists). And it was a victory the Stars needed; going down 2-0 heading to a hostile Ball Arena in Denver is not what anyone in Texas wanted.
And it was just in time for Hintz, who entered the game with a single point in eight 2024 Stanley Cup Playoff tilts. He needs to stay hot if the Stars are going to win this series.
Despite the win, Dallas lost home-ice advantage after falling to the Avs in Game 1, and they'll need to at least win one of the two on the road to avoid a potential elimination Game 5 back home.
Stars win Game 2, lose home-ice advantage vs. Avalanche
Still, it was a big win from Dallas' perspective, and the team was better than Colorado for 40 minutes.
“Found a way to win the game,” said star defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who scored two goals in the game. “And that’s the most important thing.”
If Hintz was the catalyst offensively, it was Heiskanan on the back end — as it continues to be. The 24-year-old is up to eight points in nine games during the playoff run, while consistently going against the opposing team's best players. That's even tougher when the opposing team boasts a Hart Trophy finalist in Nathan MacKinnon and a perennial Norris Trophy finalist like Cale Makar.
The Stars powerplay has also been critical; the unit was 2-for-5 in Thursday's win, while the Avalanche were 0-for-3 in man advantage opportunities. That ended up being the difference.
It'll now be a trip north to Denver as the two teams prepare to battle at Ball Arena on Saturday and Monday night, respectively. And the way this series is going, it could be a long one as two Central Division behemoths battle for the crown — and a spot in the Western Conference Final.
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