NHL 25: Landeskog scores in first game back, Avs win 5-2

Valeri Nichushkin was the hero, but Landeskog took the crown.

NHL 25 is 2-0 in the series, and let’s hope they go 3-0 because the Colorado Avalanche are projected to score a 5-2 win over the Dallas Stars Wednesday night at Ball Arena.

Valeri Nichushkin scored two goals, and Gabriel Landeskog scored his first professional goal in three years. Jack Drury and Nathan MacKinnon also added tallies for Colorado, which takes a 2-1 series lead into Game 4.

Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 29 of 31 shots for the Avalanche while Jake Oettinger stopped 21 of 25 shots for the Stars.

First Period

Colorado had a myriad of juicy chances in the opening frame. Roughly eight minutes into the period, Joel Kiviranta rang a shot off the left-side post. In another instance, Artturi Lehkonen also had a wide-open net, but Oettinger made an incredible blocker save. And in the waning seconds of the period, Sam Malinski fed Logan O’Connor a backhand tap-in, but it clipped the post as Oettinger sprawled across the crease to try and get the puck out of the danger zone.

Second Period

Despite the opportunities for Colorado early on, they were not the first on the board. That belonged to Dallas roughly six minutes into the second period when Mikko Rantanen batted a rebound out of the air and into the net for a goal. The initial shot from Jamie Benn bounced off Mackenzie Blackwood’s blocker, and Rantanen used his stick, reminiscent of a check swing on a baseball diamond, to get the goal.

However, the Avalanche responded two minutes later when Jack Drury skated with the puck end to end and beat Oettinger five-hole to tie the game at one.

With 6:28 left in the period, the Stars retook the lead when Jamie Benn scored off a Ross Colton turnover. But once again, it took another two minutes and some change for Colorado to respond when Nichushkin put on the afterburner, beat a pair of Dallas defenders, and ripped a wrist shot that bounced off Oettinger’s right pad and in to nod the game up again at two apiece.

It was at this point that the Avalanche took control of the game for good. Big Val scored again to make it a 3-2 game with 2:45 left in the second period after Matt Duchene coughed up the puck in Colorado’s defensive zone. Nichushkin scooped up the puck and, with Mason Marchment hot on his tail, snapped another puck by Oettinger to flip the game on its head.

Third Period

Dallas went on the power play for the first time in the game with 13:22 left in the final period when Charlie Coyle was sent to the sin bin for slashing Wyatt Johnston. The game then turned into a penalty fest of sorts. Rantanen was penalized for holding Cale Makar, and on the very next play, Marty Nečas added to the carnival with a foul on Esa Lindell. After that sequence ended with no goals, Mavrik Bourque went to the box for tripping Malinski.

And following the subsequent faceoff, Avs fans got what they yearned for. It’s GABRIEL LANDESKOG. He scored off the backhand on the power play for his first goal since Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals. Devon Toews fed him off the faceoff, and Landy took care of the rest.

Nathan MacKinnon added the empty-net goal to finish the game, and the Avalanche took Game 3 over the Dallas Stars with a 5-2 victory.

Takeaways

It appears that this will unfold similarly to Game 1. It is projected to be a close, technical affair until Colorado takes over the game permanently. Let’s hope the game is on our side tonight.