Recap: Avs rally and force a Game 7 on Saturday night in Dallas

Jared Bednar has another chance to defeat arch-nemesis Pete DeBoer.

DENVER, CO — The Dallas Stars will have to fight a little harder if they want to knock the Colorado Avalanche out of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Avs scored a come-from-behind, 7-4 victory Thursday night to force a pivotal Game 7 against the Stars in their Western Conference First Round series.

Just when it seemed like the Avalanche were on the cusp of being eliminated for the second straight year by the Stars, they came alive in the third period, and with some help from an enemy, put away the opposing squad. Nathan MacKinnon was credited with the go-ahead goal at 9:04 of the third period when Colin Blackwell, the overtime hero of Game 2, knocked the puck into his own net. In an intense battle in front of the net, Blackwell shouldered the puck towards his netminder, Jake Oettinger, in an attempt to get the puck out of the danger zone of Colorado’s offense. The worst would unfold for Dallas when Oettinger was unable to stop the puck, resulting in an ill-timed own goal. For Colorado, it was like a Christmas miracle as they staved off elimination at Ball Arena.

MacKinnon finished the night with a goal and two assists, but Valeri Nichushkin had the best night for Colorado, scoring two goals. The Russian, at his best, is a wrecking machine in the playoffs. This was his fifth career multi-goal game in the postseason. Cale Makar found the net, and Marty Nečas recorded a goal and an assist for the number 3 seed from the Central division. Gabriel Landeskog and Brock Nelson each collected two assists, and Mackenzie Blackwood overcame a shaky second period to make 22 saves and earn the victory.

Roope Hintz had a four-point game for Dallas with two goals and two assists, and Mikko Rantanen had a goal and three assists. Oettinger was his usual dominant self, but he took the loss tonight in a 41-save performance.

Valeri Nichushkin scored two goals, and the Colorado Avalanche avoided elimination with a 7-4 win against the Dallas Stars in Game 6 of the Western Conference First Round at Ball Arena.

The best-of-7 series is tied. Game 7 is scheduled for Saturday in Dallas.

First Period

The start of the elimination game kicked off with an icing call and a shot on goal for the Avalanche.

After a slew of good opportunities, Colorado caught a break when a shot from Nichushkin bounced off Ilya Lyubushkin’s right skate and into the net for an own goal. As the saying goes, “We’ll take it.” Regardless of how it happened, it was a well-designed play by the Avalanche. Makar got the play started and gave his teammates time to get into position. From there, he found Toews, who found Nelson, who found Nichushkin all alone by the right circle.

With just under five minutes left in the first period, Wyatt Johnston checked Parker Kelly viciously into the boards, but Kelly bounced right back on his skates and continued to push hard.

Lehkonen made it 2-0 Colorado when he jumped on a rebound that bounced off the heel of Oettinger’s stick. The initial shot came from Makar, who teed up a slap shot that Oettinger was unable to contain once it hit his stick. Lehkonen was in a perfect position by the left side of the net to punch it in for the goal.

At the end of the first, Colorado led 2-0 and outshot their adversaries 19-10.

Second Period

The second frame started with a penalty when Nelson got his stick tied up behind the net and ended up tripping Mikael Granlund for a tripping call. Dallas scored on the power play when Hintz’s shot bounced off Charlie Coyle and in. Blackwood was also without his stick as he lost control of it moments before.

A scary moment occurred just 2:18 into the frame when Lian Bichsel went head-first into the boards after losing an edge. The impact was complicated as Jack Drury was chasing him down as it happened, and went down with him, causing his knee to go into Bischel’s head as they both crashed. Bichsel was seemingly unconscious for several minutes as the Stars’ medical team worked on him. Bichsel rose to his feet with help and was very woozy as he made his way to the locker room.

Dallas used it as motivation and tied the game at two when Granlund snuck around Makar and went on a breakaway to beat Blackwood on a wrister top shelf.

The bad display woke Makar up, who subsequently set up a beautiful one-touch pass to Nečas for a tap-in at the backdoor. The goal put Colorado back on top by 3-2.

Hintz tied the game at three after forcing a turnover and going the other way for a goal.

It was somewhat of a disappointing period for the Avalanche, but not due to a lack of effort. Sure, the goals allowed were a problem, but even more infuriating was the fact that Colorado hit the post several times, with both Josh Manson and Nečas hearing the clang of death.

In the closing stages of the second, Colorado, again, turned the puck over in their zone, and Rantanen was in the slot unprotected and scored to make it a 4-3 Dallas game.

Colorado subsequently went on their first power play of the night when Thomas Harley was sent off for high-sticking Brock Nelson.

Third Period

Nichushkin tied the game at 4-4 when he scooped up the rebound of Landeskog’s initial shot with his leg and smacked it by Oettinger. The game turned on its head when Sam Steel’s net-clearing attempt headed towards Blackwell, who proceeded to shoulder the puck into his own goal. Nathan MacKinnon was the last to touch it for the Avalanche.

From there, Colorado used the confidence boost to put Dallas away. Josh Manson and Cale Makar added empty-net markers, and Colorado came away with the 7-4 victory.

Takeaways

First and foremost, great win. Secondly, it shouldn’t have been as nail-biting. Colorado had way too many turnovers in this game, and nearly every slip-up resulted in a goal for the opposition. Let the Avs use this as an opportunity to get better and put the Stars away on their turf.

Pete DeBoer and company had Colorado teetering on the edge, and they failed to knock them off the mountain. The Avalanche need to go to their house and suffocate them. The aggression we saw from this team was great, but let’s cut down on the mistakes.

See you Saturday, Dallas. The start time for Saturday’s Game 7 matchup is set for 6 p.m. MT.