RANTANEN AGAIN
Game-winner caps wild third
AVALANCHE 3, STARS 2
Mikko Rantanen strikes again. In a wild third period on Saturday night at the Pepsi Center, the NHL’S points leader again demonstrated why he’s the most dynamic offensive force in hockey right now with a late third period goal that propelled the Avalanche to a 3-2 victory over the Dallas Stars.
Colorado led 1-0 after two periods thanks to Nathan Mackinnon’s goal on a night where, through the first 40 minutes, the team’s lamp-lighting chances were plenty but their scoring sparse.
But the Stars stunned Colorado with two goals in a matter of four minutes in the latter half of the third period, and it was late offensive heroics by J.T. Compher — on a rebound goal — and Rantanen that ultimately swung the game back in Colorado’s favor for its fourth straight win.
The teams traded scoring chances in the opening period, but both Semyon Varlamov and Stars goalie Anton Khudobin posted six saves apiece to keep the game scoreless heading into the second.
Colorado’s best chance in the first period came with less than two minutes to play, when Khudobin was caught out of position behind the net. Samuel Girard’s shot on a near-empty net was blocked by Blake Comeau, and the Stars wouldn’t be the only ones to escape a defensive breakdown as Varlamov’s pads also made up for several Colorado turnovers in its own defensive zone.
The second continued that near-miss trend, as there were three penalties in that period just like the first.
Colorado — which entered the night ranked first in the NHL with 24 goals in 75 power plays, a 32.0 percent success rate — couldn’t cash in on its second and third special teams chances of the night as Khudobin continually quashed the Avalanche rush.
But Colorado’s top line finally broke through against its Central division rivals with 6:49 to play in the second. Rantanen scooped up a loose puck from behind the net and quickly fed it to Gabe Landeskog, who found Mackinnnon wide open at the bottom of the left faceoff circle. Mackinnon one-timed the pass home past Khudobin, finally beaten for the first time all night.
And while Mackinnon’s 15th goal of the season gave Colorado a 1-0 advantage, Varlamov did his job to protect it. That included eight saves in the period, including a crowd-pleasing stop on a 2-on-1 Stars’ rush late in the second following a sloppy turnover by Girard in the defensive zone.
In the third, Varlamov continued to stonewall, with a little help from his defense. Five minutes into the period, Varlamov stopped a Stars’ slap shot but the puck petered slowly between his legs. It was only Girard’s diving effort to slap the puck away that prevented the equalizing goal.
But with Varlamov 8:28 from his first shutout of the season, the Stars won the draw, and then the puck kicked around in front of the net before Radek Faksa beat Varlamov in the bottom right corner for his fourth goal of the season. Then Jamie Benn’s goal from the top right of crease with 4:57 left gave Dallas a 2-1 lead before Compher and Rantanen’s goals sealed Colorado’s comeback.
Colorado (13-6-4) now heads back on the road to take on Nashville on Tuesday before returning to Denver for games against Pittsburgh (Nov. 28) and St. Louis (Nov. 30).