DENVER — Across the first six weeks of the Stars season, heading into Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the Avalanche, it was tough to argue the Stars didn’t get what they deserved.
While Jake Oettinger stole an odd game early on, and the Dallas special teams put them in advantageous positions, the Stars’ results generally reflected how well they played. For the most part, they either won big or the lost big. Recently, they’ve robbed points via third-period comebacks.
On Saturday night, perhaps they deserved more than they received — at least based on the first two periods.
Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev made 41 saves to stymie the Stars, including 19 in the second period alone, when the Stars had five power plays. Georgiev’s performance comes in the same week when he made 33 saves during a shootout win over the Stars.
Georgiev didn’t have to make the flashy saves often associated with upper-echelon goaltending performances. But he held steady during a constant drip of Stars chances: points shots and net-front scrambles, at even-strength and on the power play.
Nathan MacKinnon, Josh Manson, Dryden Hunt and Logan O’Connor scored for Colorado. Joe Pavelski scored a second-period power-play goal for the Stars.
In his first start since being stretchered off with a back injury in Florida last week, Scott Wedgewood made 30 saves.
Jason Robertson picked up a secondary assist on Pavelski’s goal, running his point streak to 15 games. It is the longest in Dallas Stars history, and is five games away from tying the franchise record (including the Minnesota North Stars).
The Stars played a decent first two periods on Saturday night. But decent is not good enough to beat Colorado.
They arrived late into Denver after losing in overtime to Winnipeg on Friday. Their backup goaltender was starting. The defending Stanley Cup champions were scheduled to play Friday as well, but a water leak in Nashville postponed their game.
“That can go either way,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said before the game. “Sometimes, you’re sharper when you play than when you’re sitting around. I’ll tell you in about an hour and a half.”
Dallas controlled the puck for large stretches of the game, even if Grade-A chances didn’t develop consistently. In the first period, the Stars had a 16-10 advantage in shots on goal. In a power play-heavy second period, Dallas held a 20-10 edge.
In a derivation from the season-long trend of spending too much time on the penalty kill, the Stars possessed the puck enough to draw five penalties in the second period, including three on Manson.
After two periods, the Stars had attempted 50 shots at all strengths; the Avalanche, 25. Natural Stat Trick gave them a 2.97-1.32 lead in expected goals.
Colorado outshot the Stars 14-6 in the third period, even with the Stars trying to climb back into the game.
As the Stars struggled to solve Georgiev, the Avalanche were deadly in turning possession into dangerous chances immediately. MacKinnon and Cale Makar were their usual dynamic selves in transition. The Avalanche were opportunistic on rebounds, something the Stars could not capitalize on Saturday night.
Goals by Manson, Hunt and O’Connor all came on rebounds spit out by Wedgewood.
It was the third game in a row that the Stars faced a multi-goal deficit in the third period. On Wednesday against Chicago, the Stars erased a three-goal deficit to win in regulation. On Friday against Winnipeg, they came back from two goals down to earn a point in an overtime loss.
Saturday’s loss snapped the Stars’ seven-game point streak. It was their first regulation loss since a Nov. 11 defeat against San Jose.
The Stars will travel to St. Louis on Sunday before playing the Blues on Monday night.
