Brock Nelson’s wrist shot at 8:21 of the third period did more than tie Colorado’s game with Dallas. Dallas’ 2-1 advantage was gone, with more than half the period still to play. Dallas had to answer another turning point, then survive overtime and a shootout before leaving Ball Arena with a 3-2 victory.
The equalizer left Dallas with a more demanding assignment than defending its brief lead. Colorado finished ahead 27-22 in shots, and the Stars needed overtime and the shootout to claim the extra point. Winning the rematch was worthwhile; allowing only two goals in play was also the difference between having a deciding chance and losing in regulation.
The first Dallas lead arrived early in the third, 1:20 into the period. Arttu Hyry scored an unassisted short-handed goal on a backhand, turning a Colorado power-play opportunity into Dallas’ advantage. That was a significant piece of opportunism: the Stars’ most important third-period goal came while they were killing a penalty, not while using their own power play.
The advantage lasted 7:01. Nelson’s even-strength wrist shot at 8:21 restored a 2-2 tie, with assists from Artturi Lehkonen and Nazem Kadri. The sequence is worth separating from the final shootout result. Hyry’s goal gave Dallas a lead, but it did not give the Stars control of the game; Nelson’s response made that plain before the third period was halfway finished.
The manpower ledger favored Dallas despite its own empty power play. Colorado had four advantages and converted none. The Stars had two and did not score on either, but Hyry gave their penalty killers an attacking return as well as a successful defensive night. That unusual contribution kept a close game available without requiring Dallas to produce a stream of even-strength goals.
The Stars also had to withstand more Colorado attempts than they generated. Dallas blocked 19 shots to Colorado’s 17, a number that helps explain how the Avalanche’s 27-shot night did not become a larger scoreboard advantage. It does not mean every defensive sequence was tidy, and it does not erase the workload placed on Casey DeSmith, who stopped 25 shots.
It does show Dallas finding enough resistance around its net to keep a one-goal game from becoming a two-goal game.
The earlier scoring had already established the narrow margins. Landeskog opened the scoring with a second-period tip at 4:55. Heiskanen’s wrist shot at 15:03 supplied Dallas’ reply, with Harley and Rantanen earning assists. That left Dallas needing a third-period spark, which Hyry supplied, and then needing a response after Colorado took it away.
Colorado’s night included several unusual interruptions to the scoring. Two first-period goals were removed from the board, one after Dallas successfully challenged for offsides and another after a kicking-motion ruling. Gavin Brindley later appeared to have scored in the third, but the puck struck both posts and did not enter the net.
