Makar, Avalanche Stave Off Elimination with Game Five Triumph Over the Stars
The Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche returned to American Airlines Center on Wednesday night for Game Five with the Stars having taken control of the series after winning Games Three and Four in Colorado to take a 3-1 series lead. The Stars were looking to advance to their second straight Western Conference Finals and knock off Nathan MacKinnon and the Avalanche, as the Stars had outscored Colorado 14-5 in the last three games of the series. The Avalanche, meanwhile, wanted to unleash their lethal offense after scoring only one goal in their past two games against the Stars. Following a two-goal performance by Cale Makar in Game Five, the Avalanche found their scoring form once more, defeating the Stars 5-3 to force a Game Six and escape elimination.
At 9:03 in the first period, Jason Robertson would dump the puck into the Avalanche's zone behind the net, where Matt Duchene would be waiting to corral it and pass it to an open Joe Pavelski near the post. Pavelski would then backhand the puck past goalie Alexandar Georgiev's glove and into the net for his eagerly awaited first goal of the postseason to give the Stars a 1-0 lead. The Stars' Ryan Suter was penalized for holding MacKinnon's stick late in the first period, which gave the Avalanche their first power play opportunity of the game. With 0.6 seconds remaining before the first intermission and 32 seconds remaining on their power play, MacKinnon passed the puck from the left circle to Artturi Lehkonen in the middle of the zone, and Lehkonen one-timed the puck past Jake Oettinger and into the net to give the Avalanche their first power play goal of the series and tie the game at 1-1. By the end of the first period, the Avalanche had a 9–8 advantage in shots on goal and outhit the Stars 12–4.
Midway through the second period, the Avalanche were penalized for a delay of game when the puck went over the glass, which led to the Stars' second power play. The Stars would take back the lead with 8:21 left in the period and just 19 seconds into the man-advantage after Robertson and Miro Heiskanen set up an odd-man rush opportunity into the Avalanche zone. Robertson would backhand the puck to Heiskanen on the left side, who would snap-shot it past Georgiev, who was outstretched, and into the net. After Chris Tanev was punished for a high-sticking penalty with four minutes remaining in the period, the Avalanche would go on their second power play of the game. Cale Makar's wrist shot from the top of the zone went through traffic in front of the net and past Oettinger to tie the game at 2-2 with 52 seconds left on the power play for the Avalanche. The game was knotted at two going into the third period, with the Avalanche continuing to lead 19–15 in shots on goal at the end of the second period.
Just 1:12 into the third period, Zach Parise deflected the puck in midair close to the net, causing it to bounce behind Oettinger inside the crease and across to the opposite post, where Casey Mittelstadt was waiting to snap-shot the puck into the open net, giving the Avalanche their first lead of the game at 3-2. The Avalanche would increase their lead to 4-2 at 4:28 of the third period when Makar skated toward the net with the puck in the right circle and wrist-shot it between Oettinger's five-hole for his second goal of the game. Only 1:16 later, at 5:44, Esa Lindell's shot from the blue line, touched off of teammate Logan Stankoven's stick out in front and past Georgiev, which would trim the Stars' deficit to 4-3. The Avalanche would take a two-goal lead with 3:10 left in regulation when MacKinnon skated to the middle of the zone, collected a feed from Lehkonen, and wrist-shot the puck past Oettinger. Hoping to find some late-period magic, the Stars would begin a late power play. Nevertheless, the Avalanche managed to preserve their season by defeating the Stars 5-3 and forcing a Game Six on Friday night in Colorado.
