AVALANCHE SCORES FIVE IN FIRST, FORCES GAME 6
Avalanche rides five- goal first period to season- saving win, sends series to Game 6 Trade- deadline acquisition Michael Hutchinson, a 30- year- old journeyman goaltender, helped save the Avalanche’s season Monday night, thanks in large part to an overpo
Called upon as second- string goalie Pavel Francouz was declared “unfit to play,” Hutchinson was more than up to the task in Colorado’s 6- 3 victory over Dallas. The Stars now lead the Western Conference Semifinal series, 3- 2, with Game 6 on Wednesday in Edmonton.
With the Avs’ injury list growing by the day, perhaps they were the only ones who knew they had a chance against the healthy Stars, whom they nearly skated off the ice with a 5- 0 blitzkrieg in the first period. That cushion was more than enough for
Hutchinson to bring the victory home.
Rapid- fire scoring had been the Stars’ secret throughout this series, but on this night, the Avs nearly rewrote the record book in scoring in bunches. They bombarded No. 1 goalie Ben Bishop, scoring four times in a span of 2: 36 in the first period, to stave off elimination.
The Denver- born Bishop was pulled after the Avs’ fourth goal, playing just 13: 43 before Anton Khudobin stepped in. Colorado’s fifth goal was its seventh consecutive in the series. It scored the latter two in Game 4’ s 5- 4 loss.
The Avs set club records in goals ( five) and shots ( 23) in a playoff period, and the four goals in 2: 36 was one second shy of the NHL’s all- time playoff record, set by the Montreal Canadiens in 1944.
Pierre- Edouard Bellemare, Andre Burakovsky, Nathan MacKinnon, Nazem Kadri and Sam Girard each scored first- period goals at even strength, and Burakovsky scored his second late in the second period after the Stars got within 5- 2.
Thirteen- of- 18 skaters had points for the Avs through 40 minutes, including Burakovsky’s team- high three.
MacKinnon, who assisted on Burakovsky’s second goal, was plus- 4 and led a lethal offensive attack that outshot Dallas 23- 4 in the first period and 38- 16 through two periods.
Colorado took a 6- 2 lead into the third period despite having gone 0- of- 6 on the power play up to that point in what turned in a sloppy, penalty fest. Dallas’ second goal came on a power play after the Avs took consecutive unsportsmanlike penalties by Kadri and Girard.
Dallas made it 6- 3 with 5: 48 of the third but it was far too little, too late.
Colorado coach Jared Bednar asked for the best game of the series from his team and he definitely got that. The Avs, who didn’t produce their first shot in Game 4 until late in the first period, jumped on Dallas from the first drop of the puck. They didn’t need Hutchinson to be great because he was rarely tested at times.
Francouz, had allowed 15 goals since replacing the injured Philipp Grubauer in Game 1, and was often beat with in- tight redirections and rebounds from the Stars — particularly in Game 4.
But Hutchinson had much more support Monday.
“I think we’re losing that battle right now and it’s hurting us,” Bednar said pregame of the lack of support in Game 4.
“We got to be stronger in front of the net. They’re coming in there looking for rebounds.
“We have to win some of those battles by body position, getting under sticks, establishing that body position early in our defending, no rest in our game down there, and then we got to collapse and clear some pucks. They’re getting too many of those rebounds.”
That wasn’t the case in Game 5, making Game 6 possible.