Recap: Former Stars help Avs take down Dallas in divisional game

6 months ago  /  Mile High Hockey

Photo by Ashley Potts/NHLI via Getty Images


Avs get a four-point swing thanks to goals from Joel Kiviranta and Andrew Cogliano. In a tight Central Division race both the Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars hit a bit of a skid coming out of the All-Star break. Both squads came into the divisional matchup needing the two points desperately with the Stars behind the eight ball after playing the day prior while the Avs had their second day in a row off.
Recap
With the aforementioned rest disadvantage, the Dallas Stars knew they had to come out quick and jump on the Avs early if they wanted a chance in this game and that’s exactly what they did. A dominant shift from the Stars' first line snowballed to their second when Wyatt Johnston fed Logan Stankoven in front of the Avs net. Cale Makar and Sam Girard had a poor switch, leaving Stankoven open to roof the puck in tight, scoring his second goal in his second NHL game.


THREE GAMES. TWO GOALS. LOGAN STANKOVEN! pic.twitter.com/7TsJHmgqJN— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) February 28, 2024




The Avalanche were in an unfortunate position early into the game but a former Star got them out of it. A quick regroup from Devon Toews and the Avs's fourth line got them up the ice fast. Andrew Cogliano received the pass and entered the zone with speed, which created a cross-ice passing lane for Joel Kiviranta. The two ex-Dallas players linked and Kiviranta fired a puck that barely snuck in off the post to tie the game. It was a big goal for Kiviranta against his former team for his first since December 7.


Cogs to Kivi for a Finn-tastic goal #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/vDQnDDBIhq— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) February 28, 2024




The two quick goals woke the Avs up and they had the lion's share of the chances as the game began to regress to a normal pace. Right as it seemed as though the game was cooling off the Avs ignited Ball Arena and took the lead in the game.
Yet again quick transition from the Avs garnered a goal as Colorado’s top line made some quick precision passing to go from defense to offense in the blink of an eye. This, again, tangled up the Stars' defense as the Avs were able to get a flurry of chances on Jake Oettinger in a matter of seconds. Nathan MacKinnon, Artturi Lehkonen, and Mikko Rantanen all got a shot in on the Dallas netminder before Rantanen was able to catch Oettinger scrambling and tuck the puck behind him for the lead.


A prime example of 'NEVER BACK DOWN NEVER WHAT' on the ice.#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/37Mvi93k5g— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) February 28, 2024




Despite the goal things did simmer down for both teams through the end of the period. Each team had some shots and looks but it was a pretty typical hockey game against two good teams, until the second period.
The Avs started the period on the penalty kill thanks to a trip from Bowen Byram late in the first. This got Dallas off on the right foot to start the period and they were able to get the first seven shots of the period. Alexandar Georgiev and the Avs defense kept them from evening the game and eventually, the fourth line struck yet again.
Chris Wagner created some chaos in the neutral zone by hounding a puck loose from the possession of Jani Hakanpää. Andrew Cogliano picked up the loose puck with speed creating a two-on-one with Joel Kiviratna. Rather than attempt to give Kiviranta a second goal Cogliano cut to the middle of the ice, which was left wide open, and leveraged a shot over the glove of Oettinger, giving him his second goal in as many games.


On a mission #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/QrXoNdbrr8— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) February 28, 2024




The Cogliano goal opened a damn for the Avalanche as less than a minute after they would extend their lead to three. As the Stars attempted to clear the zone Cale Makar pinched down and worked a puck loose to Artturi Lehkonen along the half boards. Lehkonen tapped it to MacKinnon who burst along the outside, again catching the Dallas defense off guard. The speed gave him plenty of space to attack Jake Oettinger directly and he flipped a backhander top shelf to make the game 4-1. This goal also gave Cale Makar sole possession of the franchise record for points by a defenseman. In his fifth NHL season. Yes, that is as insane as it sounds.


N8 the gr8!#GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/bu74wCdXlF— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) February 28, 2024




The two-goal burst again led the teams to slow the pace of play and settle down a bit more. Almost six minutes passed before Wyatt Johnston took a delay of game penalty, giving the Avalanche powerplay a chance to put the nail in the coffin of the game.
If the nail in the coffin analogy was true the Avs spent the first minute of the powerplay throwing the hammer around and giving it to the person in the coffin to use instead. Translation: the start of the Avs powerplay sucked. The Stars chased the Avs all the way to their own zone until they got caught being too aggressive. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before but the Avs caught the Dallas Stars in transition and with Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar behind the play Mikko Rantanen led the three-on-two rush with Jonathan Drouin and Artturi Lehkonen. Those three executed a passing play that couldn’t have been drawn up better. Rantanen fed a pass from the high slot to Drouin who was at one side of the net. He then one-touched the puck to Lehkonen, who crashed the other side of the net for the easy tap-in goal. The nail was in the coffin.


A Finnish hat trick! #GoAvsGo pic.twitter.com/0WdKrjJBGN— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) February 28, 2024




I’m hardly mincing words when I say the nail was in the coffin because the Dallas Stars showed barely any life in the third period, understandably so. They were nailed in a coffin after all.
Both teams went through the motions to close out the game and the Avs bounced back from an unfortunate loss on Saturday with a huge win over a division rival.
Takeaways
This is one of those games where there’s not much to say. This game was the first since the All-Star break in which I felt there was no weak link on the Avalanche. Players had their moments but the body of work was strong.
The Avs top line was dominant after a slow first shift. Each player walked away with a goal with MacKinnon and Rantanen tacking on an assist as well. Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen led the charge for the team and both looked like the superstars we’ve come to expect them to be. It was incredibly encouraging to see Rantanen specifically take over a game, something he hasn’t done in quite some time.
Alexandar Georgiev had one of his better statistical games of the new year. Stopping 33 of 34 shots for a .971 SV%. The second period was when the Stars pushed hard and Georgiev played a big role in the Avs maintaining their lead.
The guy who really got the job tonight for Avalanche, however, was Andrew Cogliano. He got one game off against the Detroit Red Wings due to illness and has scored in both games since. Tonight he was the player we see him typically save for the playoffs. He was a puck-hound, as always, but he also made some shockingly talented plays to get two of the Avs five goals. That’s depth-scoring the Avs really need.
Upcoming
The Avalanche head to Chicago on Thursday, looking to get revenge for their last meeting with the Blackhawks. Puck drop is at 7:00 p.m. MT on ESPN. Mile High Hockey will have you covered as the Avs look to gain more points in the Central Division race....

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