Game 3 Recap: Resilient Avs Fight Back

By Richard Gonzalez

The Colorado Avalanche came into game three against the Dallas Stars with a little desperation feel after dropping the first two games of the series. An explosive second-period surge and a resilient third period gave them their first win of this series. Joonas Donskoi was deemed unfit to play and Logan O’Connor would be inserted into the lineup.

The Game:

Tyler Seguin would get the Stars on the board first as he scored his second of the post-season. The Avalanche would get the man advantage but could not convert. A tripping and embellishment call would see four-on-four action, but neither team scored, and the Stars would take the lead after the first. The Avalanche came to life in the second as Nikita Zadorov would score in what would be described as a “knuckle puck” shot to tie the game followed by Andre Burakovsky and Gabriel Landeskog goals to give the Avalanche the two-goal lead after the second period.

The Avalanche did outhit the Stars, 52-36 in that second, but would get a minor penalty at the end of the period. A couple of penalties, including the one at the end of the second, gave the Stars an edge to start the third period. They scored three goals to gain the 4-3 lead. The Avalanche would not give up and respond with a couple goals in 1:52 seconds to regain the lead. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare would seal the deal with his empty-net goal to make a 6-4 Avalanche win.

Stats:

Mackinnon would set a new franchise record with scoring points in 11 consecutive games with his two assists. Cale Makar (three assists), Zadorov (goal and assist), Nazem Kadri (goal and assist), and Mikko Rantanen (goal and assist) each had multiple points. Andre Burakovsky (goal), Landeskog (goal), Ian Cole (assist) each had a point. Kevin Connauton (assist) would be his first point in six career playoff games and Bellemare would get his first career playoff goal in 42 career playoff games. O’Connor had four hits and one block in 7:44 minutes of playing time. Every Avs player had a hit. Landeskog leads the team with 12 hits. Pavel Francouz made 33 saves on 37 shots.

Quote Of The Game:

“We go into every battle to win, Burakovsky said via NBC after the second period. “If they want to get rough, we’re going to get rough. It is part of the game.”

NHL’s Three Stars Of The Game:

1) Cale Makar, three assists.

2) Mikko Rantanen game-tying goal and an assist.

3) Nikita Zadorov, opening goal and assist.

It is hard not to include Kadri into this. He scored a big goal to get the Avalanche the win. If he can start heating up again then he will do some serious damage. I would give him the 1A star and Makar the 1B star.

Analysis:

I got a little worried after the Stars went up by one. Not that I did not have faith in the team, but more on how the Avalanche would respond. They came back and got the lead, then lost the lead, only to get it back again. This is the kind of no quit and resiliency this team needs to win this series and to have success in the postseason. I think the reality of playing a team that will hit back and will not stay down has finally settled in the Avs’ mindset and are learning how to keep the pressure going. They increased their physical presence immensely by outhitting the Stars 72-56. That was a main factor in game three’s win. They also blocked more shots, 25-19, compared to their measly four blocked shots in game two. Took some pressure off Francouz.  This was not a perfect game and they can improve, but this is a good starting point to get back into this series. They need to continue their physical game, blocking shots and not retaliating to the Stars agitating.

Injury:

Zadorov would take a hit from Stars’ Jamie Benn and would head back to the locker room in the second period. He would return to the bench for the third but looked uncomfortable and did not play.

Next Game:

Game four will be on Friday, Aug. 28, at 8:00 PM (MT). The Avalanche will be the away team and the Stars will be the home team.

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August 27th, 2020