The favorable circumstance for the Avalanche didn’t pan out. The Dallas Stars played into overtime Saturday night and lost an hour in traveling to Denver for Sunday’s 6 p.m. game against the rested Avs. Colorado, however, looked like the tired team at the in the fourth meeting of the season between the Central Division rivals.
Dallas scored three goals off Colorado turnovers and breezed to a 7-2 victory to extend its winning streak to five games. The Stars have not lost since falling 3-0 to the Avalanche on Nov. 22 in Denver, and suddenly the Avs can’t find consistent success at home. They are 1-3 on their five-game homestand and have fallen to 8-4-0 at the Pepsi Center (8-4-1 overall; they were the “home” team against Ottawa in Sweden Nov. 10).
The Avs, who finished with a league-low 22 wins and 48 points last season, fell to 12-11-2 overall.
“I don’t give a (darn) if we’re better than we were last year at this point, or what have you, but we gave them everything they got tonight. We turned the puck over. We were sloppy. There’s really no excuse,” Avs defenseman said. “They played a back-and-back, got in probably 2 in the morning. We were rested, ready to go and we laid an egg. It’s unacceptable.”
Forwards Tyler Seguin and Brett Rictchie each scored twice for Dallas and backup goalie Kari Lehtonen got the win in net. The Avs went with backup goalie Jonathan Bernier — who had backstopped the Nov. 22 shutout against the Stars — but Bernier struggled this time and was pulled after allowing four goals in 27:52.
“I got to make sure I’m better next game,” Bernier said.
and scored goals to get the Avs within 2-1 and 4-2, respectively, but Colorado’s costly turnovers were too much to overcome. The Stars poured it on in the third, scoring three times including an empty-net goal.
“It’s an easy fix because we turned the puck over and gave them their goals,” Johnson said. “You just have to flush it down the toilet and get ready for the next one. We played horrible and gave them everything they got tonight. That’s the bottom line.”
The Avs had a poor first period for the second straight game and trailed 2-0 after 20 minutes. Seguin scored at 14:44 and 19:10, both goals coming off Colorado turnovers and with the -centered line on the ice.
First, Seguin picked off a Matt Nieto pass just inside the Avs’ blue line and scored with a backhander on the breakaway. Later, Avalanche teenage defenseman Sam Girard turned it over in Colorado’s end and Seguin redirected the puck past Bernier from in front of the net. Seguin was actually the second Stars player to get a stick on John Klingberg’s shot from the point; Alexander Radulov touched it before Seguin.
“Poor start again,” Avs coach said. “We’re getting to the point in the season where we can’t keep repeating these mistakes.”
Like Friday in a 2-1 loss to New Jersey, the Avs rebounded from a poor start with some jump in the second period. Thirty-nine seconds into the frame, Rantanan made it 2-1 with a one-timer from the left circle, with center feeding him the puck from the opposite side. But the Avs couldn’t sustain the momentum. Dallas’ Jason Spezza scored at 6:48, making a soft touch on the puck off the stick of linemate Devin Shore. The puck slithered through Bernier’s legs for a goal that he undoubtedly didn’t appreciate.
One shot later, Bernier’s night was over, replaced by . Just 1:04 after Spezza’s goal, defenseman Greg Pateryn crushed a slap shot from the point and beat Bernier high over goalie’s stick-side. The Stars appeared to take a 5-1 lead shortly thereafter but the Avs used a coach’s challenge to overturn a goal when replays proved that Dallas interfered with Varlamov before the puck hit the back of the net.
The Stars scored their third goal off a Colorado turnover early in the third period, when fourth-line forward Brett Ritchie took advantage of a defensive-end miscue by Avs rookie Alex Kerfoot. The Avs had gotten to within 4-2 at 12:45 of the second period on Comeau’s goal — a rebound backhander from the side of the crease.
