{"id":194587,"date":"2026-03-07T09:57:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T09:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/194587\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T09:57:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T09:57:09","slug":"dallas-stars-game-notes-playoff-atmosphere-all-lines-firing-a-disappointing-end-in-loss-vs-avalanche","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/194587\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Stars game notes: Playoff atmosphere, all lines firing, & a disappointing end in loss vs Avalanche"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dallas Stars<\/a> had it all going before giving up two multi-goal leads in a 5-4 shootout loss against the Colorado Avalanche at American Airlines Center on Friday.<\/p>\n

Stars lines <\/p>\n

Robertson \u2013 Hintz \u2013 Johnston<\/p>\n

Steel \u2013 Duchene \u2013 Benn<\/p>\n

Erne \u2013 Hryckowian \u2013 Bourque<\/p>\n

Blackwell \u2013 B\u00e4ck \u2013 Bastian<\/p>\n

Lindell \u2013 Heiskanen<\/p>\n

Harley \u2013 Lundkvist<\/p>\n

Bichsel \u2013 Lyubushkin \u00a0<\/p>\n

Scratches: Kyle Capobianco, Alex Petrovic <\/p>\n

Top story <\/p>\n

A major change in vibes.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

After a fairly quiet day on the trade front, but what still felt chaotic around here, the Stars put down a statement performance through 30 minutes of hockey. They were clearly the better team 5-on-5, and outside of two power-play goals, one of which came on a poor call, they gave up very little to the best team in the NHL. <\/p>\n

A solid win would have put a stamp on a fun day with great vibes around the rink. It also would\u2019ve made a statement to Colorado that Dallas still owns them, even without Mikko Rantanen, Tyler Seguin, Radek Faksa, and for a while, Roope Hintz. <\/p>\n

Instead, they got a bit too defensive, made a couple crucial mistakes, and let two separate two-goal leads slip away into a shootout loss. That stings. There\u2019s no way it doesn\u2019t. And it certainly killed the mood. <\/p>\n

But the key takeaway is that this Stars team has drastically improved since being completely outplayed in Denver back in October. They proved something to the Avs and themselves with a performance like this. That goes a long way, even if the result is a shot in the standings. <\/p>\n

\u201cI liked us tonight,\u201d Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said. \u201cWe had a chance for an empty netter, we\u2019d be having a different discussion right now. We didn\u2019t get it, they get a late tying goal\u2026 I liked a lot of our players tonight, I thought a lot of guys played well\u2026 Lot of growth from the first game we played them until now. But that\u2019s just a preview of what\u2019s to come. There\u2019s more of this to come.\u201d <\/p>\n

Live game notebook <\/p>\n

Before we get into the game, here is Stars GM Jim Nill\u2019s post trade deadline press conference:<\/p>\n

Hear from Dallas Stars GM, Jim Nill, on trade deadline news. <\/p>\n

\u2013 Looking for depth at the deadline
\u2013 Replacing Tyler Seguin & Radek Faksa’s recovery; new acquisitions Michael Bunting & Tyler Myers
\u2013 Mikko Rantanen starts skating in 7-10 days after his injury in Milan (Olympics) pic.twitter.com\/R6UG1wM7kE<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 DLLS Stars (@DLLS_Stars) March 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

And here is Nill on Seguin and the decision to put him on season-ending LTIR. <\/p>\n

Period 1 <\/p>\n

The puck has not yet dropped, and it is LOUD in here. Lines out the door and plenty of noise pregame. <\/p>\n

Dallas took an early penalty. Oskar B\u00e4ck definitely held the stick, and despite ranking dead last on the power play, Colorado took the lead on a perfect screen shot by Cale Makar. It\u2019s what Makar does best, but he doesn\u2019t do it a lot on the power play this year. <\/p>\n

Speaking of elite defenseman who don\u2019t score a lot of power-play goals, Miro Heiskanen has entered the chat. After some really patient puck work by the Stars power play \u2014 You could see them adapting to Colorado\u2019s pressure points \u2014 Heiskanen\u2019s shot from the point deflected off the stick of Parker Kelly, the chest of Devon Toews, and past Mackenzie Blackwood. It got even louder in here. <\/p>\n

As the AAC was still buzzing, Dallas had its best shift of the game, and maybe most dominant over this stretch. Nathan Bastian, Colin Blackwell, and B\u00e4ck created some chaos on the forecheck. Then Jason Robertson came off the bench and slipped a nasty behind the back pass to Hintz flying through the slot. Hintz just missed the top corner with a nasty release we haven\u2019t seen in a bit. Good to see him flying after his illness. But eventually, Wyatt Johnston picked up a puck behind the net, circled to the middle of the ice while deking past a couple of Avs, and picked the top right corner with a perfect shot. The puck looked to just lay flat after rolling the whole way to the slot and may have even tipped off the tip of Blackwood\u2019s glove. <\/p>\n

I usually have more notes between goals\u2026 But this game has been so fun to watch and goals are coming in hot. <\/p>\n

After another good Dallas shift, a terrible exchange between Blackwood and Toews behind the Colorado net found its way to Mavrik Bourque, who spun a shot or pass across the crease. It landed on the tape of Justin Hryckowian, who took plenty of time to tuck it into the open net. He had a lot of time, and he took just about all of it. It was quite funny in what is usually such a fast-paced game. Fooled \u2019em with the triple deke. <\/p>\n

Yikes, the Stars had all the momentum, but a pretty questionable call on Bourque leads to an immediate power-play goal by Nathan MacKinnon. Bourque threw a huge hit at center ice, but the referee called it interference. Clearly, it wasn\u2019t. <\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I was upset about that hit,\u201d Gulutzan said. \u201cIt\u2019s an intense game, and that\u2019s a good hit. We\u2019re going to hit guys like that all day long. They\u2019re hitting guys, we hit guys. That, for me, wasn\u2019t a penalty in this kind of game. And I don\u2019t think it\u2019s a penalty in any game.\u201d <\/p>\n

What a period. Wow. I love this rivalry. So much. <\/p>\n

Stars 3, Avalanche 2<\/p>\n

Period 2<\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for the action to ramp up again. Adam Erne made a great play at center ice to protect the puck, Bourque chipped it deep, and Hryckowian got in on the forecheck and impressively won a puck with ease against Josh Manson. Hryckowian used a one-handed poke check to steal the puck, spun off Manson and kept his balance, then found Jamie Benn crashing the net. What a play all around and a Hryckowian hat trick (penalty, goal, assist). <\/p>\n

Adam Erne makes a great play along the wall to get to Bourque, who gets the puck in deep. Hryckowian bodies Manson off the puck and finds Jamie Benn in front. 4-2. pic.twitter.com\/VZAXVJ9vOB<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Robert Tiffin (@RobertTiffin) March 7, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Scott Wedgewood has replaced Blackwood in goal for Colorado. <\/p>\n

So far, this is a statement for Dallas. But they have to keep it going that way. <\/p>\n

Oof, I jinxed them for sure. After Jake Oettinger looked really good for nearly half the game, he got beat by a fairly innocent wrist shot by Martin Necas. There are some defensive issues on the play, and it\u2019s a nice shot, but it\u2019s a shot that Oettinger doesn\u2019t read well and should probably save. One-goal game again. <\/p>\n

Yeesh again, MacKinnon and Hintz got tangled along the boards, and Hintz stayed down on the ice in pain. Esa Lindell came over to go after MacKinnon, but after watching the replay, it looked like it was just an awkward wrestling match that ended badly. Hintz stayed down in pain and was helped off the ice putting no weight on his left leg. Not good<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t expect good news out of this injury update, whenever we get it. But I won\u2019t speculate, and we will wait and see \u2014 Hintz has been ruled out for the rest of the game by Stars PR. There was no update on Hintz after the game. <\/p>\n

On the ice, it\u2019s a one-goal game going into the third, and Colorado has pushed back. <\/p>\n

Stars 4, Avalanche 3 <\/p>\n

Period 3<\/p>\n

Robertson has some lethal skill. After pulling a puck off the wall through the middle of the ice, he forked a backhand chip shot that looked to surprised Wedgewood, but it missed high. <\/p>\n

Hryckowian is all over it tonight. <\/p>\n

Oettinger makes a big save while scrambling around. <\/p>\n

Wedgewood has been really good since coming in. This time, he reads a quick cross-crease pass by Robertson and attacks out on top of his crease to block it with his pad. <\/p>\n

Another questionable call \u2014 This time, a trip on Bastian that looked more like a toe pick by Makar \u2014 puts Dallas on a very important penalty kill late in the third. <\/p>\n

Oettinger makes a huge left pad save on a wide-open slot shot by Brock Nelson. Blackwell had no stick, and Dallas got through a tough sequence and cleared the puck. <\/p>\n

Val Nichushkin came very close to trying the game, hitting both posts straight across the goal line as the power play expired. <\/p>\n

After a great play in the defensive end to get the puck out, Dallas had an easy chance to score into the empty net and win the game. But Hryckowian opted to pass over to Benn as they crossed the blue line, and Benn missed the net on the backhand. Still a one-goal game with 49 seconds to go. <\/p>\n

And it cost them. Nichushkin beat Oettinger over the left shoulder from the bottom of the left circle with 13 seconds to go to force overtime. Bad for Dallas because they had two leads and a great chance at an empty net dagger. And bad again because they lost their chance to steal both points in the Central Division race. Now, they have to try to get the second past regulation. <\/p>\n

Overtime<\/p>\n

Who starts the 3-on-3 OT between the two best teams in the league? How about rookie Justin Hryckowian? Hryckowian played 20:22 tonight, third-most among forwards and his career high. Unfortunately, he loses the draw, and Dallas chases for the first bit of OT. Hryckowian played two shifts early in OT. <\/p>\n

Benn came on the ice and looked determined. He used a slick backhand pass through the middle of the ice to spring Heiskanen. Wedgwood made a great save with his left arm or maybe the cheater part of the glove on the wrist shot from the dead slot. Then Heiskanen got another wide-open chance seconds later but missed high to the blocker side. Wedgewood was very good in relief. <\/p>\n

Oettinger one upped his buddy with an incredible pad save on a mini 2-on-0 for Colorado. He read it well, exploded to his right, and just got across to get the top of his pad on the shot and send it over the net. One of his best saves of the season. <\/p>\n

Roberston had a breakaway as time expired, but he seemed to look at Wedgewood, and say, \u201cSee you in the shootout.\u201d <\/p>\n

Unfortunately for Dallas, Wedgewood made beautiful glove saves on both Robertson and Duchene, and both Avs scored beautiful deke goals to win the game in the shootout. <\/p>\n

Avalanche 5, Stars 4 (SO) <\/p>\n

Quotable <\/p>\n

Miro Heiskanen on the loss:<\/p>\n

\u201cTight game. Could\u2019ve gone either way. Both teams had good chances. Small margins. Two good teams, so it\u2019s always tight. But\u2026 disappointing ending.\u201d <\/p>\n