Miles Wood scores overtime winner to send Avalanche to Game 1 victory over Stars
Denver Post
DALLAS — Three goals down, the Colorado Avalanche was just getting started.
Miles Wood scored a breakaway goal in the first overtime to complete a stunning Avalanche comeback in Game 1 of its second-round series.
Wood outraced Stars defenseman Miro Heiskanen to the puck in the neutral zone, got around the all-world defenseman and deposited a beautiful backhanded shot at 11:03 of the extra session to give Colorado a 4-3 win and 1-0 lead in the series. Dallas had scored the first three goals in this game.
Game 2 of this series is here Thursday night.
It was a slow start for Colorado, but the second period looked more like what the Avs accomplished against the Winnipeg Jets in a five-game first-round wipeout.
Valeri Nichushkin put the Avs on the board with the first of two second-period power-play goals. It came on the rebound of a Cale Makar shot, and was Nichushkin’s eighth goal in six playoff games.
Makar got the Avs within one at 9:08 of the middle period with a laser beam of a wrist shot from the top of the offensive zone. Colorado scored six times with the extra man in the first round, and the Avs are now 8 for 18 on the power play in the postseason.
Beyond the two goals, the Avs dominated the period. Dallas had just three shots on net, and Colorado had 14 of the 16 scoring chances, per Natural Stat Trick.
Nathan MacKinnon evened the score at 3-3 on the first shift of the third period. He pounced on the rebound of a Makar shot just 39 seconds in. It was Makar’s third point of the game, and he’s now tied with Connor McDavid atop the postseason leaderboard with 12.
The Stars, despite playing two nights prior to finish off the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights in Game 7 of their opening-round series, grabbed a 3-0 lead in the opening period.
Ryan Suter opened the scoring with a shot from the left point through traffic at 7:26. Wyatt Johnston made it 2-0 with a shot that went off Makar’s stick and deflected into the top-left corner at 10:55. Jason Robertson’s shot during a 5-on-3 went off Jamie Benn’s body and trickled across the line at 16:56.
When the Avs didn’t have a communication breakdown or weren’t putting someone in the penalty box — Colorado had three infractions in the final five minutes of the period — the opening 20 minutes weren’t as bad as the scoreline indicated. The Avs allowed just three scoring chances at 5-on-5.
Georgiev allowed three goals on the first nine shots he faced, but made a couple of huge saves in the third period after the Avalanche rallied to tie the game.
The Avs had a 22-7 advantage in scoring chances at even strength through regulation. Dallas had just seven shots on goal in the final 43:04 of regulation after taking the 3-0 lead.
The Stars were able to flip the flow of the game back in their favor at the start of overtime. Dallas had the first six shots on goal, including two glorious chances that Georgiev had to turn aside.
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