Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporterMay 8, 2024, 03:00 AM ET
CloseRyan S. Clark is an NHL reporter for ESPN.
Not one. Not two. Not three. But six. That’s how many consecutive Game 1’s the Dallas Stars have lost following Tuesday night’s 4-3 overtime loss to the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Stars jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first period after goals from Ryan Suter, Wyatt Johnston and Jamie Benn, only to then go scoreless the rest of the way and allowing four straight goals by the Avalanche, including the winner from Miles Wood nearly nine minutes into overtime.
“We had that game under control, and we let it slip away, but we’ve seen that in the regular season against them,” Stars forward Matt Duchene told reporters. “We had two games like that, so we have bounce back here and split the homestand here.”
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The Avalanche jumpstarted their comeback by capitalizing on their power-play chances. Valeri Nichushkin trimmed the lead to 3-1 a little more than five minutes into the second period, and Cale Makar cut it to 3-2 nearly four minutes later.
Avalanche star center Nathan MacKinnon, who was named one of the three Hart Trophy finalists Tuesday, scored the tying goal less than a minute into the third period.
“They’re a great power play,” Benn said. “They’ve got a lot of skill. We’ll have to watch some video, learn from it, and move on.”
There were moments in overtime when the Avalanche struggled to find a clear shot before Wood found space on a breakaway and beat Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger for the game-winning goal.
“We didn’t know we could come back, but we wanted to at least try,” MacKinnon said after the game.
Learning how to make the necessary adjustments following a Game 1 loss has proved to be a familiar theme for the Stars.
The last time they won Game 1 of a playoff series came in 2020, when they took Game 1 of the Stanley Cup final against the Tampa Bay Lightning in a series they would lose in six games.
They opened the 2022…
Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/40104664/stars-let-3-0-lead-slip-away-lose-game-1-avalanche
Author : Ryan Clark
Publish date : 2024-05-08 08:07:22
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