It's been a long road back to NHL hockey for Dallas Stars forward Tyler Seguin, but Wednesday night must have re-confirmed that it was all worth it for the veteran. After missing four months of the 2024-25 campaign due to hip surgery, Seguin made his return to the lineup at the end of the regular-season — and he was the hero for the Stars in Game 3 against the Colorado Avalanche.

After trailing 1-0 for most of the game, captain Jamie Benn knotted the score midway through the third period before Seguin scored the overtime winner at Ball Arena to give the Stars a 2-1 series lead over their Central Division rivals. It was Seguin's sixth career playoff game-winning goal.

“I wanted to one-time it. It was off, a little inside, and my subconscious was go low glove,” Seguin told reporters afterwards, including NHL.com's Ryan Boulding. “I think you think about OT winners and you feel how important they are, but [there's] just so much more tonight than that goal.

“I mean, it's the penalty kill. It's the details of the game of what the guys did. It's Mikko Rantanen on that shift before I scored, and what he did — battling off three guys and changing for me. I was just the beneficiary of it, and collectively, just a great road win by the guys.”

The Stars killed off a four-minute high-sticking penalty to Mason Marchment, who caught Brock Nelson up high with just 40 seconds left in regulation. After the kill, it took Seguin less than three minutes to call game — and Marchment picked up the assist on the crucial tally.

“Gutsy win,” said Dallas head coach Pete DeBoer. “You go in after the game and you want to acknowledge some of the key guys and key plays, and really, I could’ve gone around the room. Everybody jumped in tonight and did their part. I thought we worked for a win, did a lot of really good things.”

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Stars have home-ice advantage back in a big way

After losing Game 1 on home ice, the Stars have managed to secure back-to-back overtime victories to gain the upper hand in the series. Colin Blackwell was the hero in Game 2 at the American Airlines Center in Texas, while it was Seguin who sealed the 2-1 triumph on Wednesday.

It was a tough loss for the Avalanche, who didn't trail at all during the game but were unable to build on a 1-0 lead after a great individual effort by Valeri Nichushkin in the first period.

Despite the defeat, the silver lining for Colorado was getting Gabriel Landeskog back for his first NHL game in almost three years. He recorded a team-high six hits and played a shade over 13 minutes.

“I felt pretty good; speed-wise, legs, physically, I felt good,” the captain said. “It felt great in all areas tonight, in terms of just being back, and then on the ice, play-wise, there's areas to improve. But very special night, regardless of the outcome, and looking forward to Saturday already.”

The two teams will now have an extra day off in Denver before Game 3, which is scheduled for Saturday night at Ball Arena. Puck is set to drop just past 9:30 p.m. ET.