The Upset Sports

A DFW-centric sports subscription site.

Main navigation

Stars Beaten By Avalanche 4-1 in First Game After Break

by Leave a Comment

The dreaded dip in play that results from a long layoff was feared by Dallas Stars fans for good reason. They fell to the Colorado Avalanche 4-1 but were without excuse. The Avalanche were also coming off their five-day bye but looked sharper in almost every area. Offense was as difficult to come by for the Stars as it had been all season. Ben Bishop had a rough night with 19 saves on only 22 shots.

Colorado goaltender Jonathan Bernier, who had a shutout on the Stars earlier in the season, started in place of the ailing Semyon Varlamov. Jamie Benn had an early breakaway opportunity but couldn’t get his bearings in time to make a move on Bernier. The Radek Faksa line, matched up all game against the Colorado top line that features All-Star Nathan McKinnon, was reduced to focusing on zone exits rather than generating any offense.

The Avalanche got on the board first with an Alexander Kerfoot goal on the rush. John Klingberg was on the back check and was deftly avoided by Kerfoot.

In the second period, Carl Soderberg scored into an empty net when Bishop went behind to play the puck and was shoved by Blake Comeau. The play was challenged by the Stars coaching staff, and the call on the ice was overturned. Meanwhile, the Stars could not find the net with their shot, going without one until six minutes remaining in the period when Remi Elie had a quality chance in close.

The Stars did manage to pull even on a clean-up goal from Benn. The top line had a slick sequence of passing to finally enter the zone cleanly, and Alexander Radulov left a drop pass for Klingberg in the slot. His shot was left for Benn to finish off.

Bishop made a spectacular save with his left leg as Tyson Jost was left unattended on the far side of the net late in the second period. It was a critical play to keep the game at even going into the second intermission. Coupled with that play, Antoine Roussel had a breakaway chance with seven seconds to go but was hooked by Patrick Nemeth to give the Stars their second power play.

Bernier was great in the third period when the Stars had two consecutive power plays. He also stood tall when the Faksa line was crashing the net, which led to a goal the other way from McKinnon. With less than two minutes in the game, Klingberg tried to keep the puck in the offensive zone and was thwarted by Blake Comeau. Comeau closed the door with a 2-on-1 the other way, keeping the puck to beat Bishop. The Avalanche added insult to injury with an empty net goal while they were short-handed.

Play of the Game

Jonathan Bernier’s save when the Radek Faksa line finally managed some positive offensive production led to Nathan MacKinnon’s game winning goal. All the forwards were crashing the net, and Antoine Roussel had the attempt from in close, but Bernier spat it back out, leading to a rush the other way.

The Upset Three Stars of the Game

1. Nathan MacKinnon (1 G) – MacKinnon looked every bit the All-Star around whom the Avalanche are committed to building. He was the best player on the ice and had the game winner.

2. Alexander Kerfoot (1 G, 1 A) – Kerfoot’s first goal was a sight to behold and forced the Stars to chase early. He also had an assist on the MacKinnon goal.

3. Jonathan Bernier (.964 SV%) – The backup goaltender outplayed Ben Bishop. His play on the penalty early in the second period had the Stars puzzled. He also made the save of the game, setting up MacKinnon’s goal on the rush.

The Goals

First Period

14:09 Alexander Kerfoot took a pass in the neutral zone, and after avoiding John Klingberg’s defense finished with a goal on the rush that beat Ben Bishop short side high. Stars 0, Avalanche 1

Second Period

15:43 Alexander Radulov dropped a pass to John Klingberg in the slot. Klingberg’s shot rebounded off of Jonathan Bernier’s pad for Jamie Benn to finish off as he was crashing in. Stars 1, Avalanche 1

Third Period

6:33 Nathan MacKinnon was one-on-one with Esa Lindell after the Stars were caught up ice crashing Jonathan Bernier’s net. MacKinnon put one past Ben Bishop that he’d probably like to have back. Stars 1, Avalanche 2

18:20 Blake Comeau picked up the puck from his own blue line as John Klingberg was attempting to hold it in the zone and raced down the ice with a man advantage. He kept the puck to score a goal and close the door on the game. Stars 1, Avalanche 3

19:47 Mark Barberio scored an empty net goal late in the game from deep in his own zone. Stars 1, Avalanche 4

Avalanche lineup
Gabriel Landeskog — Nathan MacKinnon — Mikko Rantanen
Matt Nieto — Carl Soderberg — Blake Comeau
A.J. Greer — Alexander Kerfoot — Nail Yakupov
Colin Wilson — Tyson Jost — Gabriel Bourque

Nikita Zadorov — Erik Johnson
Patrick Nemeth — Mark Barberio
Samuel Girard — Anton Lindholm

Jonathan Bernier
Andrew Hammond

Injured: Semyon Varlamov (lower body), Tyson Barrie (hand), Sven Andrighetto (leg), J.T. Compher (upper body), Vladislav Kamenev (arm)

Scratched: Duncan Siemens

Stars lineup
Jamie Benn — Tyler Seguin — Alexander Radulov
Mattias Janmark — Martin Hanzal — Jason Spezza
Antoine Roussel — Radek Faksa — Tyler Pitlick
Remi Elie — Devin Shore — Brett Ritchie

Esa Lindell — John Klingberg
Dan Hamhuis — Greg Pateryn
Stephen Johns — Julius Honka

Ben Bishop
Kari Lehtonen

Injured: Marc Methot (knee)

Scratched: Gemel Smith

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply