Game 1 WCSF AfterThoughts: Bad Omens
I’ve got to find a place
Be myself and learn to face
The ominous clouds
***
The pace was noticeably faster in this game than it was against Vegas. Rather than deal with a heavy forecheck and a neutral zone thick with skaters, Dallas instead spent far more time crossing the blue line with speed, or seeing their own crossed with ease. In other words, the pitched battle that was Vegas vs. Dallas is done and gone. Now, it’s about throwing your punches better than the others. But make no mistake: Colorado will be throwing punches. Unlike multiple wins in the first round, Dallas isn’t going to beat the Avalanche by strangling the game of its scoring chances and daring the other team to manufacture something dangeous. Colorado are the danger factory, and all they needed to show it was a handful of openings for their best players.
Look, this series is going to be all about whether Colorado’s top players can outpace the contributions of Dallas’s deeper roster. The Stars got a goal from Wyatt Johnston and a power play (5v3) tally from Jamie Benn, with a Ryan Suter point shot for good measure. The Avalanche got three goals from their top line and top defense pairing, which meant they were able to win this game with just a single instance of their own version of depth scoring, i.e. literally anything from the 13 skaters not playing half the game.
Dallas knows all about the perils of having an outstanding top line with less depth underneath, but give Colorado credit: they have more than just MacKinnon & Company this time, if you don’t mind what adjective follows “more” when describing Miles Wood.
Unlike Wood’s one-man heroism, Ryan Suter scored Dallas’s depth goal with a basic wrister from the blue line that Matt Duchene tried to tip, but it turned out to be a good thing that he missed it, as the puck sailed into the Colorado net. That led to bigger and better things for Dallas, but it did reinforce right off the bat that the Stars were indeed no longer facing the goaltending from Vegas, but rather Alexander Georgiev, a man whose last name sounds like the noise old men make when tearing a muscle.
The pretty goal for Dallas was when Wyatt Johnston ripped a puck over Georgiev after a subtle pass by Joe Pavelski off a faceoff win by Jamie Benn, to put Dallas up 2-0 before Colorado had even begun to work the officials, as they usually do. But unlike the Vegas series (you’ll hear that phrase a lot), leads between these two teams feel more like a gauntlet thrown down than territory gained. Dallas was not comfortable playing with a two-goal lead, and it showed quickly. Or at least, it would have, if Dallas hadn’t quickly gotten a three-goal lead.
Colorado must have been holding their instructions upside down when preparing for this game, because things got interesting when Mikko Rantanen tripped Evgenii Dadonov, sending the Stars to the power play, only for Yakov Trenin to whack Jason Robertson in the side of the head on his way into the zone for a soft high-sticking penalty that usually gets called in this league, though not necessarily when a team is already on the penalty kill. But the call was made, and it gave the Stars a two-man advantage for over 1:30. It was a golden chance to take a 3-0 lead before the first intermission, and Jamie Benn ensured the Stars didn’t miss out, messily tipping a puck past a feckless Georgiev after Jason Robertson curled up to the point for a familiar shot slot. It marked Pavelski’s first point of the playoffs, but he already seems like he’s going to be a more pivotal player in this series, just like Roope Hitnz. Well, also different from Roope Hintz, but hold that thought for now.
The vaunted top line of Colorado then capped off their forgettable first period when Rantanen took another penalty, slashing a stick right out of the hands of Radek Faksa with a minute left in the first period. He very nearly paid for it too, when Jason Robertson pulled the puck out of a pile and fed it to Jamie Benn, who wrapped a puck around Georgiev (who himself whiffed on a poke check), only for Josh Manson to play savior on the goal line. But for what it’s worth, I don’t think the puck was actually going to cross the goal line, but just travel along it. Benn had gone too far to stuff the puck in, and while Manson’s intervention was still necessary with other Stars crashing the net, it wasn’t quite as vital as it first seemed.
***
The second period felt weird right off the bat, partly because Dallas was in a position they had never experienced in the seven games against Vegas: ahead by three goals.
You may remember how Tim Peel had to retire in disgrace after being caught by a hot mic expressing his desire to hand out a penalty to even up the calls. That’s a real phenomenon in the NHL, which fans got to see when Stankoven appeared to get tripped in the offensive zone, but there was no way Dallas was going to get the first four power plays to start the game unless some sort of oversized ACME dynamite was involved. Sure enough, Colorado got their chance when Evgenii Dadonov got called for a slash on Val Nichushkin, who would then score on the ensuing power play right after Wyatt Johnston’s stick shattered to put the Stars effectively two men down right off the hop. Bad breaks are bad breaks sometimes, you know? Anyway, Cale Makar wisely judged that Johnston was strangely mortal for a minute, and he easily got the puck to the net, where Oettinger couldn’t quite hang onto the shot, and Nichushkin collected the rebound and put it away.
Colorado got another chance shortly thereafter, with Craig Smith being called for hooking in the offensive zone when he foolishly turned Cale Makar askew with a two-handed wrap play that looked about as illegal as you’re going to see. It set things up for Colorado to get back within a goal and put all the pressure back on Dallas, making it about as crucial a second-period penalty kill as you’re likely to see. But after a Roope Hintz 1-on-1 rush that could’ve built momentum back up fizzled into nothing, Makar fired a shot from the slot that Oettinger’s glove hand didn’t get enough of, and things got a whole lot less fun for Dallas. By the way, isn’t Makar supposed to be having a down season? Would someone mind giving him a quick reminder that he was battling an injury or whatever? Thank you, I would appreciate it. Your pal, Rober.t
The special teams continued to pollute the middlegame when Heiskanen got clocked in the side of the head with another high stick from Miles Wood, putting the calls at 4-2 in Dallas’s favor. But the power play seemed to sag for the Stars this time, with Devon Toews generating as good a chance as either team got, with a shorthanded shot that Oettinger’s right pad had to flash out to stop.
The second period ended with all the momentum on Colorado’s side, and the third period wasn’t any better, with Nathan MacKinnon putting away a Makar rebound less than a minute in. The whole play started when Joe Pavelski couldn’t quite keep up with Makar at the point (though who can, to be fair), and suddenly, like the Avalanche-Stars game I was at back in November, Dallas’s 3-0 lead over the Avalanche was gone. Wait, was that game like, an omen or something? Because if it is, you are legally required to tell me what is going to happen on Thursday at midnight, since apparently being the best team in the West means your fans have to all get fired from their jobs in order to watch the games live.
One thing that was noticeable after the early game action was how easily Colorado was beating the Dallas forecheck, often trapping two Dallas skaters up ice on the counterattack, making for easier zone entries. Dallas corrected this to complicate matters later on, but there were some interesting little chess moves throughout the night, with both teams stretching the zone rather than digging in and fighting for the blue lines quite as ferociously as we’ve seen lately.
Midway through the third period, DeBoer juggled the lines, and it seemed to work, because moving Wyatt Johnston onto any line will usually work, for that line. In this case, Johnston was moved up with Robertson and Hintz, replacing Stankoven.
Check that:
New lines
Robertson-Hintz-Johnston
Benn-Duchene-Stankoven
Steel-Seguin-Pavelski
Dadonov-Faksa-Smith— Bruce LeVine (@BruceLeVinePuck) May 8, 2024
The game started to get cagier as the final period wore on, and it felt like someone was going to have to make a big play. This is a hockey cliche, but cliches exist for a reason, and that reason is lazy writing. (It is late and I am old, sorry.) Anyway, Rantanen fed MacKinnon in the slot for a golden chance that the Hart Trophy nominee sent over the crossbar in a crucial moment. Rantanen then rang that same crossbar off the ensuing faceoff (with MacKinnon reaching out to put an uncalled hook on the hands of his pursuer), and things were tense for Dallas. It was a good reminder for Stars fans that this game wasn’t just about Dallas’s blown chances, but also Colorado’s. Either team could’ve easily won this game in regulation, but the bottom line is, it came down to a stupid goal in stupid overtime at stupid midnight on a stupid Tuesday. I am fine with that, as you can see.
But that last ten minutes of the third period was the sort of time in a game where players need someone to step up, and both teams had candidates. Colorado sent their top line out every chance they got, and Thomas Harley and company generated some good chances for Dallas, too.
The big moment came with 5:25 remaining, however, when Roope Hintz turned the corner on Josh Manson and got a stick in the hands. Hintz then went down as he was turning the corner at a severe angle, but the officials jumped at the chance to make a call without having to make a call, and they took Hintz for embellishment. So instead of a power play for an attacking team who got hooked by an out-of-position player, we had 4-on-4 hockey for two minutes, which is also known as a Colorado Power Play.
I give Manson credit on the dive call. He turned to the ref with an "OMG OMG OMG" face the minute Hintz was falling.
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) May 8, 2024
At least, Colorado pressure is what I would have assumed of 4v4 hockey, but credit to the Stars, they finally seemed to wake up after that, and the last five minutes of the third saw Dallas playing with vindictive precision, with a Suter shot finding Pavelski for an expert tip that Georgiev somehow found just in time. But play was cranked up to 11 for both sides, as Oettinger had to stay sharp on a Parise rebound chance, and Roope Hintz had the game on his stick on yet another rush, only to put it over Georgiev’s shoulder as well as the bar. Hintz did look much better this game, though no one would say he’s been reverse humpty-dumptied just yet. Give it time, though. This series feels like his moment.
Oh, and that’s not even mentioning the moment when we all held our breath, as Nichushkin and MacKinnon came in on a 2-on-1 that seemed fated to end the game in cruel fashion late in the third, only for Thomas Harley to argue with the puck long enough to convince it not to get across to MacKinnon, and the Stars survived regulation.
***
In overtime, it was all Dallas, as they fired the first bunch of shots of the extra frame at the Colorado net. Logan Stankoven and Jamie Benn spent a full shift leaning on the Avs, generating great looks, and man, can you believe Logan Stankoven is looking this good against Colorado in playoff overtime? This team is wildly deep, wildly well-stocked for success. But as far as success on this given night, Georgiev never quite got asked to make an outright heroic save. Seguin then followed up that shift with another great chance, but Georgiev’s pad was in the right spot, and he unknowingly kept the game alive long enough for Wyatt Johnston to get a shot of his own on the doorstep, but nothing doing.
Alexandar Georgiev keeps overtime going
Tune in to Avalanche vs. Stars on Sportsnet, or stream the action on Sportsnet+! pic.twitter.com/8kInarchoT— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 8, 2024
But then, the Avalanche saw a crack in the doorway, and that’s all they needed. Miles Wood had all the energy in the world, what with the Avs’ top line playing every other shift, and Miro Heiskanen was playing his 30th minute at the end of a shift. Wood got just enough of a step to turn the corner, and Heiskanen went for the desperation poke check before his move rather than waiting and trying to lift his stick on the deke, and that was all Wood needed to tuck the puck around Oettinger.
After games like this, fans get angry. They call their goalie rubbish, they bemoan slumping scorers’ ineptitude, and they decry the unfairness of the officials. None of those things are necessarily wrong when this happens, although I wouldn’t really go down any of those paths this time. The bottom line is that, despite the 3-0 lead Dallas had, I don’t know of any teams that can sit back and absorb power plays against this Avs team for 20 minutes, let alone for 40. All the Avs needed was to get the Stars looking over their shoulder, and once that happened, Colorado was able to pry open the contest and climb right back in.
But the encouraging things about this game are how the Stars looked, come off a brutal series with little rest against Vegas. Dallas was hanging with Colorado, and they had all the opportunities you could ask for to grab this game when it was there to be had at the end of regulation and the start of overtime. Sometimes you just don’t, though. Sometimes, your team plays hard, but it doesn’t work out. We just saw this happen last series, in fact, so you can be sure Dallas isn’t panicking.
But the psychology of losing a game you had at 3-0 is still tough stuff. Dallas got much better last round after some excellent performances that were barely shepherded into the fields of victory, but you have to think some of their confidence could suffer from this one. You want to believe that big leads mean something, that the Stars can both defend and tack on extra goals, but until we see this team actually score an insurance goals in the second half of a game, I’m not convinced they particularly care about doing so. I guess we’ll find out Thursday.