Instant reaction from the Avalanche’s loss to Dallas in Game 2 of their second-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series.
1. Too little, too late: What’s crazier than a 3-0 comeback? A 4-0 one, naturally. Heck of a third period, but the Avs for about 43 minutes didn’t come close to matching the intensity of the Stars. Or the physical, if sometimes questionable, play of the Dallas forwards. Thursday’s Game 2 loss turned into one of those “half-something” outcomes. On one hand, you got outta Texas with a road split in Games 1 and 2, with the next two tilts coming back to Colorado, back to the best home ice in the league. On the other — man, that was a tough watch for two periods. The Avs finally got a stingy Jake Oettinger in the Dallas net, but the offensive engine took forever to turn over. With 7:05 left in period 2, the Avs were getting outshot, 22-13. That won’t fly in May. And sure as heck won’t fly in a playoff road game.
2. Don’t blame this one on Georgie: The scoreboard doesn’t lie, but sometimes, it does leave out some critical details. Per MoneyPuck.com, Avs goalie Alexandar Georgiev had faced three “high-danger” scoring chances through two periods. His Dallas counterpart, Oettinger, had yet to see any. Sloppy puck control. Unforced turnovers. Val Nichushkin dribbled the puck off his stick. So did Devon Toews. A 3-on-1 breakaway the other way that turns into a short-handed goal? That’s not on Georgie.
3. Silly penalty at the start: You knew this series could get weird quickly, but if you had “Nathan MacKinnon Gets Two Minutes For Airmailing A Puck” on your Avs-Stars BINGO card, bless your heart. The first time Nate The Great hit the net, it turned out to be the one above the boards behind the Dallas goal, as a puck clearance went crazy high with too much mustard. That led to the Hart Trophy finalist taking a rare seat in the penalty box for delay of game. On the ensuing power play, a stalwart Avs penalty kill cracked. Stars center Roope Hintz fired a frozen rope from the shooters’ left side of the crease to the shooters’ right, setting up teammate Miro Heiskanen for a one-timer that zipped over Alexandar Georgiev’s left shoulder and into the net with 5:14 left in the opening stanza. Over the first 20 minutes, a sleepy Colorado squad got whistled twice for four minutes in the sin bin, compared to one penalty for the hosts. Dallas got only two power-play chances in the first period, but they made the second one hurt.