Cale Makar scored 34 seconds into overtime and the Colorado Avalanche held off the Dallas Stars, 4-3, in the most anticipated game of the season at Ball Arena.
Makar finished with a goal and two assists. Scott Wedgewood made 20 saves, and the Avs are now 8-0-1 in their past nine games.
Mikko Rantanen, in his first game back in Denver after being traded twice in six weeks, received a hearty ovation during a tribute video, but — like Avs-star-turned-villain Matt Duchene, was booed nearly every time he touched the puck.
The most surreal moment in the seven weeks since the original trade — ahead of just seeing Rantanen in a Stars uniform — came before puck drop. Colorado honored Nathan MacKinnon scoring his 1,000th NHL point this past Monday with a pregame ceremony.
MacKinnon’s family, Makar, Devon Toews, Andrew Cogliano and Gabe Landeskog all took part in the ceremony. Rantanen did not … but he was on the ice. He was standing near the Stars bench and tapped his stick on a couple of times for his former linemate-turned-foe.
Colorado was in total control of this contest until Dallas scored two goals in 20 seconds to tie it. Mavrik Bourque ended a wild sequence in front of the Avs net by finding a way to get the puck through a mass of bodies with 5:48 remaining.
Then Duchene added another on the next shift, putting in a rebound to make it a 3-3 score despite Colorado still holding a 2-to-1 shot advantage at the time.
Colorado had a fantastic first period, collecting 32 shot attempts to Dallas’ eight, but it was a 1-1 game at the intermission. The Avs had the first eight attempts, and the first five shots on goal, of the game, but the Stars struck first on their first attempt.
Rantanen collected the puck after Devon Toews’ clearing attempt hit an official along the boards. The ex-Avs star snapped a pass to Roope Hintz, who then bumped it to Jason Robertson for a shot Scott Wedgewood had no chance on at 4:10.
Martin Necas, part of the return from Carolina in the original trade, tied the game on the power play. Necas, standing right about where Rantanen has been for hundreds of point shots during a Colorado power play, tipped one from Cale Makar at 14:09.
Necas now has seven goals and 18 points in 19 games for the Avs. Colorado entered this game with the second-best power play in the NHL (33.3%) since trading Rantanen, behind only Dallas.
The second period was a little more even at times, but the Avs scored twice to build a lead. Valeri Nichuhskin wired one past Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger from the right circle with Brock Nelson providing a screen at 6:24. That’s Nichushkin’s 17th goal in 30 games this season.
Sam Malinski’s stick exploded on a potential one-timer, but he went to the bench to get a new one and then set up the Avs’ third goal. He found Jonathan Drouin for a one-timer that glanced off Lian Bischel’s skate and fooled Oettinger at 17:19 of the second.
FOOTNOTES: Wedgewood started for the second straight game. Avs coach Jared Bednar said earlier this week in Calgary that Mackenzie Blackwood wasn’t feeling well. … Josh Manson missed this game after leaving the contest against the Flames. Bednar said on his pregame radio show that it’s an upper-body injury for Manson and more likely week-to-week than day-to-day.
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