Not one. Not two. Not three. However six. That is what number of consecutive Recreation 1’s the Dallas Stars have misplaced following Tuesday evening’s 4-3 extra time loss to the Colorado Avalanche within the Western Convention semifinals.
The Stars jumped to a 3-0 lead within the first interval after targets from Ryan Suter, Wyatt Johnston and Jamie Benn, solely to then go scoreless the remainder of the best way and permitting 4 straight targets by the Avalanche, together with the winner from Miles Wooden practically 9 minutes into extra time.
“We had that recreation beneath management, and we let it slip away, however we have seen that within the common season in opposition to them,” Stars ahead Matt Duchene informed reporters. “We had two video games like that, so now we have bounce again right here and cut up the homestand right here.”
The Avalanche jumpstarted their comeback by capitalizing on their power-play possibilities. Valeri Nichushkin trimmed the result in 3-1 just a little greater than 5 minutes into the second interval, and Cale Makar lower it to 3-2 practically 4 minutes later.
Avalanche star middle Nathan MacKinnon, who was named one of many three Hart Trophy finalists Tuesday, scored the tying purpose lower than a minute into the third interval.
“They’re a fantastic energy play,” Benn mentioned. “They have quite a lot of ability. We’ll have to look at some video, be taught from it, and transfer on.”
There have been moments in extra time when the Avalanche struggled to discover a clear shot earlier than Wooden discovered area on a breakaway and beat Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger for the game-winning purpose.
“We did not know we might come again, however we needed to no less than attempt,” MacKinnon mentioned after the sport.
Studying the way to make the mandatory changes following a Recreation 1 loss has proved to be a well-known theme for the Stars.
The final time they gained Recreation 1 of a playoff sequence got here in 2020, after they took Recreation 1 of the Stanley Cup remaining in opposition to the Tampa Bay Lightning in a sequence they might lose in six video games.
They opened the 2022 playoffs with a Recreation 1 loss to the Calgary Flames and misplaced in seven video games. Final season noticed them open the playoffs with a Recreation 1 loss in double extra time within the first spherical to the Minnesota Wild earlier than successful the sequence in six video games. They misplaced Recreation 1 in of the second spherical in extra time to the Seattle Kraken earlier than successful that sequence in seven video games en path to reaching the Western Convention finals, the place they misplaced one other Recreation 1 that went into extra time to the Vegas Golden Knights and misplaced the sequence in six video games.
Quick ahead to this yr’s playoffs. The Stars misplaced the primary two video games of their opening-round sequence to the Golden Knights earlier than ousting the defending Stanley Cup champions within the first spherical. And now they’ve pushed that streak to 6 straight Recreation 1 defeats with a loss to the Avalanche.
“I believe you study one another as a sequence goes on, and what we learn about that group is what occurred tonight,” DeBoer mentioned. “I believe we had the lead. … They are a quick-strike group. You’ll be able to’t make errors in these conditions. It is a robust lesson to be taught in Recreation 1, however glad you are not studying it in Recreation 6 or 7 in an elimination recreation.”
