Nathan MacKinnon capped a two-goal, three-point night by scoring with 1:20 left in overtime for the Colorado Avalanche’s comeback 5-4 road victory against the Dallas Stars on Thursday night.
Via a two-on-zero rush, MacKinnon kept the puck and beat Dallas’ Scott Wedgewood (29 saves) for his 22nd goal and 64th point this season. Among the NHL’s top offensive performers, MacKinnon has at least one point in 27 of his last 29 games for Central Division-leading Colorado, which has won four straight amid a 6-0-1 stretch.
With Dallas leading 3-2, the Stars’ Tyler Seguin scored his second of the night with 10:53 left in regulation. However, the Avalanche made it 4-3 just 38 seconds later via Jonathan Drouin’s redirect, for his second of the game. Then with goalie Alexandar Georgiev (28 saves) pulled and 1:09 remaining, Colorado tied it via some net-front chaos as the puck went in off Mikko Rantanen’s skate.
The Stars, who lost two straight for the first time since Dec. 4 and 6, took advantage of an Avalanche turnover to open the scoring with 8:03 remaining in the first. Colorado’s Ross Colton lost control of the puck, which slid into the crease for Evgenii Dadonov to convert.
Colorado tied it less than two minutes later when MacKinnon’s forehand-backhand push redirected off the foot of Dallas’ Ryan Suter, then through Wedgewood’s legs.
Dallas regained the lead 1:28 into the second off a delayed penalty. On the push, a gliding Seguin found the puck on his stick and moved in position to easily beat Georgiev.
With 9:50 left in the second, the Stars made Colorado pay for Jack Johnson’s double-minor high-sticking penalty. Joe Pavelski successfully one-timed Matt Duchene’s cross-slot pass for a 3-1 Dallas lead.
However, Colorado answered via a power-play goal of its own in the waning minutes of the second period. Amid a net-front scrum, Drouin was the last Avs player to get his stick on the puck for career point No. 300 with 11.3 seconds remaining before the final intermission.
Talented Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen suffered a lower-body injury early in the third period and did not return.
–Field Level Media
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