For the second consecutive game, the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche went to overtime. For the second consecutive game, the Dallas Stars won in the first period of overtime. And for the second consecutive game, that goal came from Colin Blackwell.
…Okay, that last part didn’t actually happen (although if it did, the Avalanche might have been so soul-crushed as to forfeit the rest of the series), but it was close! Instead, the game-winning goal came courtesy of Tyler Seguin, who scored yet again after getting the puck from his skate to his forehand and then expertly roofing it over Mackenzie Blackwood.
Actually, scratch that — the game-winning goal really came courtesy of Mason Marchment, who redeemed himself in Stars’ fans eyes for his double-minor right before the end of regulation. Seguin would have never had the opportunity to score had Marchment not carried the puck up towards the net, shook off a hit by Devon Toews in an attempt to dislodge said puck, and then passed it to Seguin, who was now wide open with a trailing Cale Makar behind him.
…Actually, scratch that as well — that entire sequence doesn’t happen without ex-Avalanche star Mikko Rantanen, who single-handedly picked the puck away from former linemate Nathan MacKinnon, prevented Jonathan Drouin from scooping it up, exited the defensive zone, and then chipped it up along the boards past Makar and right to Marchment.
…Or maybe the true hero was Esa Lindell, who made his case for a Vezina Trophy when he blocked the final shot of the aforementioned double-minor power play. Or perhaps it’s Jake Oettinger, who was blocking every other shot on net when his team was playing defense in front of him and blatant interferences weren’t missed by the refs. Or what about Jamie Benn, who finally scored a goal again off a beautiful tip on the power play. Or… you know what, you get the picture.
That picture, of course, is that this win was a total team effort across the full 65:31 minutes of play. And really, you could say as much for the series as a whole — as hard as Colin Blackwell might try, no one player has emerged as the hero and superstar across three games, on either side of the ice. All 38 players (plus or minus a new addition or scratch here or there) have had to contribute, all of them have had to step up to the plate. And in that regard, the Stars’ depth has won out thus far, giving them a 2-1 series lead.
Now, if you’re Dallas… you kind of would like to have a lead during a game for more than *checks notes* a minute and two seconds. But if tight, 1-2 score games is what we’re in store for this series, then I’d say that plays to the Stars’ favor, even sans Miro Heiskanen and Jason Robertson. Again, the Stars have the depth, which means they’re more likely to get the odd goal from a forward down the lineup compared to Colorado, or to still have energy as overtime comes along. And as good as Blackwood has been, when it comes to making a save when you need it most to keep you in the game, you take Jake Oettinger every time.
To that end, you have to feel pretty good if you’re Dallas right now, and pretty nervous if you’re Colorado. They were able to take advantage of the Stars’ banged up lineup in Game 1, but have overall looked like the lower seed they are in Games 2 and 3. Your attempted spark for Game 3 didn’t work (more or on that later), you failed to use home-ice to your advantage, you couldn’t score on the powerplay to end regulation and start overtime again despite having twice as much time… I mean, you’re sort of just hoping the Stars’ top scorers don’t wake up and/or that Blackwood keeps playing great, or else you’re in a real tough pickle.
The good news for the Avalanche, at least, is that there are two days off before Game 4, plus they get to stay home — they’ll be able to properly recover physically (but maybe not mentally) from back-to-back overtime games. The bad news for the Avalanche, however, is that there are two days off before Game 4, and while I still doubt Heiskanen actually sees the ice this series… I mean, he is in Denver…
• Much has been said about Gabriel Landeskog’s return to NHL action after 3-ish years without play. First and foremost, let me say how happy I am for him — I honestly thought he’d never end up retiring without having played another game of professional hockey, let alone make a return in the playoffs, so that’s awesome.
That being said… is it just me, or did the whole “light a spark with the captain’s return” thing kind of fall flat? I mean, he had a big hit on former teammate Mikko Rantanen early on, but after that he was kind of invisible. He ended up with just over 13 minutes of ice time, which is understandable, only he didn’t really seem to do much when he was out there besides (according to the statline) throw a lot of hits here and there.
Then there was the whole part where he took warmups before Game 2, but ultimately didn’t play, which was possibly due to Jared Bednar wanting him to make his return on home ice. Which, if true, would have been… a choice? I mean, if you’re looking to energize your team, doing so in Game 2 after beating down your opponent 5-1 seems like a great time for it. And if you’re looking to energize your home crowd, isn’t the first game of the playoffs sufficient enough? It’s possible he just needed an extra day or two to truly be ready, or that Bednar wanted to be able to control his matchups better for his first games back, but I dunno…
• Even beyond his part on the overtime winner, I thought Rantanen had an excellent game, top to bottom, from start to Finnish. I think we all take for granted sometimes how difficult transitioning to a new team can be, especially when you (essentially) have spent your entire career with the same one — remember how Joe Pavelski looked like a potential bust of a free agent signing before the 2020 bubble?
So the goals will come, don’t worry — getting Jason Robertson back (if that ever even happens) would help in that regard given the chemistry the two have shown along with Roope Hintz. But honestly, the bigger plus in my opinion would be Heiskanen’s return to the lineup. That would allow Dallas to have a puck-moving defenseman on the ice at most times, plus allow them to take bigger risks to break the puck out knowing they have some solid defense ready to make up for mistakes. Both of those things would (in theory) lead to more/better rush chances, in which Rantanen thrives…
• Finally, stick tap to the Stars’ other Finnish trade acquisition, Mikael Granlund. With due respect to Colin Blackwell (seriously, can you imagine if he had scored that shorty?!?), Granlund’s snipe off the post to end the second period is my candidate for “oh come on, how did that not end up a goal?” Alas, it was not meant to be, although he at least picked up a secondary assist on the actual game-tying goal, plus played more minutes than any forward besides Wyatt Johnston.