DENVER — The Stars restored home-ice advantage in their second-round series with the Colorado Avalanche in Game 3 Saturday night, coming away with a 4-1 victory on the road at Ball Arena.
Rookie Logan Stankoven and veteran Tyler Seguin each scored twice for Dallas while goalie Jake Oettinger made 28 saves in the game.
The Stars now hold a 2-1 lead in the series. They will face Colorado in Game 4 at 8:30 p.m. CT Monday.
Here are five thoughts from the Game 3 win:
Road dominance continues
The Stars were the best road team in the NHL all regular season, securing points 69.5% of the time.
It was an advantage they boasted heading into T-Mobile Arena against Vegas last series down 0-2 and one that allowed them to crawl back into the series and tie it on enemy ice.
But against Colorado, the Stars were facing an even bigger challenge. The Stars may have been the league’s best road team, but Colorado was its best home team, earning points in 76.8% of games at Ball Arena. Entering Saturday’s Game 3, the Avalanche had not lost a playoff game on home ice.
With both teams entering their comfort zone, the Stars’ road advantage proved to be even greater. They jumped out to another early lead in the first period and were able to build off that goal through the next 40 minutes.
The Stars are now 3-1 on the road this playoffs and will have a chance to win another Monday night.
“We knew coming into this rink how these guys play,” Seguin said. “We also know how we play on the road. We knew it’d be a big challenge. I think next game’s going to be an even bigger challenge, but playoffs are about those moments and getting the right bounces at times as well, and we had that tonight.”
Logan Stankoven snaps scoring drought
Stars’ rookie Logan Stankoven couldn’t have gotten off to a much better start to his NHL career when he was called up from the Texas Stars back in February.
He scored six goals and four assists in his first 12 NHL games, solidifying his spot on the roster and in the lineup.
But after scoring against Arizona on March 20, Stankoven went nearly two months without finding the net — until Saturday.
The 21-year-old got Dallas on the board first with under 90 seconds remaining in the first period. Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen found him in traffic, and his wrister got past Avalanche goalie Alexandar Georgiev.
“I think it’s always nice to contribute,” Stankoven said. “I feel like I’ve been doing the right things but just couldn’t find the back of the net. There’s always bumps in the road being a young guy in the league, so I’m just trying to find my way and earn the coaches’ trust.”
The rookie gave Dallas a lead after the first period for the third consecutive game this series. He closed the scoring with an empty-net goal in the final minute.
Stars penalty kill dominant again
Since the Stars gave up two power-play goals in Game 1, allowing Colorado to crawl back from a 0-3 deficit, Dallas’ penalty kill has been lights out.
The Stars — which took the fewest penalty minutes in the league in the regular season — committed five infractions in the first period alone of Game 3. Those penalties resulted in three power plays for the Avalanche.
However, the Dallas penalty kill kept Colorado’s power play off the scoresheet entirely for the second consecutive game.
With 5:01 left in the first period, Jamie Benn and Ryan Suter made the defensive play of the night. A puck rolled through Oettinger’s pads and nearly crossed the goal line, but Suter and Benn swooped in to stop it from completely crossing.
The Stars had one power play of their own but were unable to score.
After the first period, the Stars did not commit another penalty.
“Well, we’ve made some adjustments. I don’t want to get into them, but I’m sure they’ll look and see what they are,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said of his penalty kill. “We also got a huge commitment tonight blocking shots from everybody. Everyone took a turn. We got some key blocks at key times, which is always important against a team like that.”
Tyler Seguin’s success against Colorado continues
Tyler Seguin appeared in three games against the Avalanche in the regular season and scored two goals in each. After three playoff games, the Stars’ veteran forward now has nine total goals against Colorado this season.
Seguin scored his first goal of the playoffs in Game 2 shorthanded and added another two Saturday.
Colorado evened the score midway through the second period, but Sam Steel, Evgenii Dadonov and Seguin regained the lead in transition. Dadonov found Seguin with the perfect pass on the far post, and Georgiev didn’t have a chance to respond.
Seguin then added an empty-netter in the final minutes. He now has six points in the playoffs.
“I’ve liked Seggy’s game all year,” DeBoer said. “I think he’s done a really good job for us this year. I think that line has been excellent for most of the year. Like any, you have some bumps in the road and some highs and lows as the season goes. But when you look at the big picture and the body of work over the entire season, I think he’s been excellent and that line has been excellent.”
Jake Oettinger puts Stars on his back
Dallas faced an offensive onslaught from the Avalanche to start the game, as Colorado held a 12-5 shot advantage through the first period.
Unlike Georgiev, Oettinger didn’t get much downtime, especially facing three power plays early in the contest.
“I would’ve rather had my workload than [Georgiev’s] tonight,” Oettinger said. “Whenever you can get some shots, especially early on and just feel you’re in the game, that’s a lot easier as a goalie to get into a rhythm, not really thinking about anything. I was able to do that.”
Dallas’ goalie held strong, allowing just one goal on 29 shots on goal. Colorado’s netminder faced 21 shots and allowed two goals.
The one goal Oettinger allowed was drawn up perfectly by Hart Trophy finalist Nathan MacKinnon, who weaved into the slot and found linemate Mikko Rantanen for the score.
Otherwise, Oettinger was as strong as he was against Vegas where he led the team to a victory in the series.
“Words don’t do justice for a guy like Jakey,” Seguin said. “He knows the atmosphere and the start that they were going to have. We needed him, and he always seems to rise to the occasion.”
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Daniel Miller is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. His coverage spans from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis for sports enthusiasts.
