“I made a couple of nice plays and got a couple of shots on that (Kings crease) and obviously was lucky to get one,” Avalanche forward Nicolas Roy reflected when asked about his scrappy overtime goal, the one sending Colorado into Los Angeles on Thursday night with a 2-0 series lead.

“But again, I like to be in this area (of the crease), and a lot of those goals are scored there. So I try to be there as much as I can.”

The Nic of Time came 7:44 into overtime late Tuesday, not long after the referees had gifted the K.O. Kings a 1-0 cushion — forcing Marty Necas to go reverse 5-hole with Gabe Landeskog and claw the Avs back.

The 6-foot-4 Roy, acquired from Toronto for a first-round pick at the trade deadline this past March, is built like the girder of an old-time baseball park. He’s strong, lean, sturdy, and hard as all heck to see around during parts of the action.

In the Colorado spirit, once Big Nic started camping in Los Angeles goalie Anton Forsberg’s crease, it was only a matter of time before somebody started a fire. While Roy and Kings defender Brandt Clarke swapped shoves in front of the L.A. net, the Avs’ Josh Manson collected a feed from Nazem Kadri, cocked his stick back, and fired from the blue line.

With that, Brandt blocked Manson’s wrister, only to lose the rubber as it trickled under him. An alert Roy leaned in and shoveled the loose puck past Forsberg to end one of the weirdest playoff nights in Ball Arena history.

“(Roy has) been awesome,” Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon said later. “I mean, he’s a great player. He’s a really smart player, awesome guy. (Joel Kiviranta) almost scored right before him, and then (Roy) found a way to get it done.”

Avs 2, Kidney Punch Kings 1. They found a way. They found a Roy, in spite of it all. Hockey justice is supposed to be blind in April. But not nearly as blind as the zebras that worked Avs-Kings Game 2.

Artemi Panarin lofted the puck over Colorado net-minder Scott Wedgewood on the power play with 6:56 left in the third period to break the deadlock, giving the underdogs a 1-0 lead. But ain’t it funny how officials didn’t notice the cross-check in front of the Avs goal, as Los Angeles’ Scott Laughton shoved Devon Toews halfway to Littleton?

Cale Makar? Elbow to the chin.

Marty Necas? Elbow to the nose.

That second one, a cheap shot by the Kings’ Mikey Anderson, is a felony in 45 states. On Tuesday, it was two minutes for roughing.

From four blind mice in stripes to in-game stadium repair, it turned into one long, strange trip of an evening. The second period had a little bit of everything. Everything, that is, except a goal.

Some goaltenders raise the roof. Wedgewood rattled the windows — helping to break the glass that separates Avs fans from the Kings’ bench.

Not directly, mind you. See, roughly 3:12 into the second stanza, Wedgie stoned a penalty shot awarded to the Kings’ Quinton Byfield, the result of a particularly curious call on Cale Makar. The Avs goalie dove hard to his left, extending a glove to stop the Los Angeles forward’s backhanded try.

With that, the superb gave way to the surreal. Ball went justifiably bonkers over Wedgewood’s stop. So bonkers, in fact, that the glass partition behind the L.A. bench completely shattered due to repeated banging by Avs faithful. The collision sent a shower of shards into the back and shoulder of unsuspecting Kings coach D.J. Smith and his staff.

And cue the oddest of odd playoff delays. The away bench had to be cleared as cleaning and maintenance crews rushed in to sweep up debris. New glass was installed after a 17-minute delay, during which both teams remained on the ice.

In hindsight, the stoppage might have slowed down a chance for the Avs to immediately capitalize on the juice generated from Wedgewood’s penalty save.

“That’s a different one,” said Avs coach Jared Bednar, who took a stray puck to the face against Vegas earlier this month. “I mean, stuff happens.”

The rough stuff happened early and often. Manson separated Laughton from his spine with 10:28 to go in the first. After Wedgewood smothered a Trevor Moore wrister on a Kings 2-on-1, a full-scale donnybrook exploded near the Colorado net.

Once order was restored, the assailants skated to the Los Angeles end of the ice. But not all — Necas got sandwiched between the Kings’ Mathieu Joseph and Anderson at center ice, a collision punctuated by Anderson reaching up to elbow the Avs winger right between the nostrils.

Meanwhile, Artturi Lehkonen boarded a dude behind the Los Angeles net with the subtlety of an Estes Park elk. Somebody grabbed Sam Malinsky, and we had another scrap, only on the other end, and with everybody on the dance floor.

When the dust settled for a second time, Brett Kulak got four minutes — two for roughing, another two for cross-checking — in the box, and Anderson only had to serve two in his box on a roughing charge.

Nevertheless, the chippy persisted. The Kings’ 6-foot-5 forward Jeff Malott bopped the 6-foot Makar in the face with 4:18 left in the opening period as they hovered above Wedgewood’s crease just before a stoppage in play.

Necas got a little of his back in the Avs’ last possession of the opening 20 minutes, shoving Anderson into the boards behind the Kings’ net a few seconds ahead of the stanza-ending horn. Why should Vegas and Utah have all the fun?

“I guess I’d better keep my head up, huh?” . “No bicycles on the highway.”

The goalie duel continued, even as the Avs generated a 3-on-1 with 4:26 left in the second stanza, a rush that had the natives rising to their collective feet again.

Only Necas dished to Landeskog rather than ripping one while he had a good look. That little hesitation gave Forsberg enough time to snuff out the danger.

Shoot, Marty!

Ah, shoot, Marty.

Playoff Necas rebounded. With 3:35 left in regulation and the Avalanche down, 1-0, Marty camped out behind Forsberg’s left shoulder, waited for help, and found an open Landy cutting into the crease. No. 88 slipped a perfect diagonal pass between Forsberg’s leg pads and onto the stick of the Captain, who didn’t miss — lighting the lamp and sending another grindy contest into overtime.

In case of awful officiating, just break glass. And call on Roy to clean up the NHL’s mess.

“I’m joining a group of guys (in Colorado) that have built something really good here,” Saint Nic said of Avs life. “(I’m) just trying to chip in as much as I can, help these guys out in any way I can.”

No bicycles on this highway, kids. Here today. Goon tomorrow.

Marietti spent nearly a decade with Bednar playing and coaching for the South Carolina Stingrays in the ECHL, but he had moved on by the time the Colorado Avalanche coach had become the head guy. Bednar was a young head coach, but he had some issues with a key player on the team.

One day, this player was late. The team was preparing to leave North Charleston on a road trip. Everyone was on the bus. As it was leaving the parking lot, the player arrived.

“This player kind of liked to do his own thing. He wasn’t a team-first player,” Marietti told The Denver Post. “Jared was like, ‘Nope. Keep going.’ They went to the game, won the game and then Jared put the guy on waivers.”

It wasn’t a popular move with the fanbase. But Marietti saw it as a defining moment in his friend’s early coaching career.

“When I heard that, I was like, ‘Yeah, Jared is legit.’ He’s not taking any (expletive). He’s going to do it his way. That was pretty ballsy. But he said look, ‘We are professionals and we’re going to act like professionals.’ And they ended up winning the championship.”

Bednar won the Kelly Cup with the Stingrays in only his second season as head coach. He won the Calder Cup in 2016. He won the Stanley Cup in 2022. His credentials as a very successful hockey coach are impeccable.

Now, as the Avs prepare for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Bednar has the best team in the NHL and another chance to cement his legacy. A second Cup would silence all of the criticism after Colorado has failed to advance past the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs the past three tournaments, and put him on a track to potentially make the Hockey Hall of Fame.

“He was always and still is the same way as far as being a stickler for details,” Marietti said. “He says, ‘Do this or do that,’ or back then, if his coach said, ‘Do this or do that,’ he stuck to the chalkboard. He was a guy who played by the rules when it came to the game plan. That����ap the same way he coaches. Buy into the system, and the system will take care of itself.

“He’s the kind of guy who is going to sell whatever it is you need. If you need him as an (ECHL) veteran or a ditchdigger, he’s going to be the best veteran or ditchdigger out there.”

An old school coach who has adapted

Bednar has certainly evolved from that young guy finding his way in South Carolina. He was a bit of a journeyman as a young player — four WHL teams, two ECHL teams, a year in the IHL before settling in with the Stingrays.

The Kelly Cup in 2009 kicked his coaching career into another gear, but his first AHL head coaching job only lasted two seasons. He spent time with three different organizations while coaching in the AHL before the Avs gave him a shot at the NHL level.

Bednar doesn’t have one specific mentor or a guy he’s modeled himself after. Bryan Maxwell had a big impact as his coach with Spokane in the WHL. Jason Fitzsimmons gave him his first coaching job with South Carolina. He worked under Jim Playfair and Brad Larsen as an AHL assistant.

“I was always fortunate to be surrounded by really good people,” Bednar said. “I learned a lot from all of those guys. I think you take a little bit from every coach you’ve ever had, what you liked, what you didn’t. The guys you meet at the conferences, like the NHLCA. Guys you work with, guys you coach against — you just kind of gather information from everywhere and develop your own style.”

Bednar was a tough, rugged defenseman. He was an old-school player who played for plenty of old-school coaches.

There is still some of that in how he coaches. But he’s also been able to adapt in a lot of different areas, and it’s a big part of why he has the fourth-highest winning percentage (.569) in league history among coaches with at least 600 NHL games.

“I think his demand level went up. I noticed that,” former Avs star Mikko Rantanen said. “I think that����ap how we became a better team there, too. Every year, he started to demand more and more. I think he obviously got more comfortable, too, as a coach.

“I always liked how detailed he was, about the game style and how we want to play. He was always very detailed about opponents and what they’re going to do. And he works hard. I know he works hard off the ice, on the computer and stuff. It����ap well-deserved, the career he’s had as a coach. I’m happy for him.”

Bednar was never a star player, but a huge part of his success with the Avs has been his relationships with the world-class players that have driven this era of success. His ability to relate to everyone, up and down the lineup, is paramount.

His ability to communicate what he wants, set a standard for how the team is going to play, and then allow players to flourish within that system has helped this Avalanche team finish first in the NHL in both goals for (298) and fewest goals against (197).

They are just the fourth team since 1967 to accomplish the feat.

“I love how calm he is. There’s no confusion around the subject,” former Avs forward Jonathan Drouin said. “When he tells you something, you know what he’s talking about. You know what he wants from you. He’s very detailed as well. It was very simple, very easy to understand him. He’s very detailed in what he wants his team to do and he’ll tell you straight up.

“It goes to the foundation they’ve built there and the players they’ve had. You just put in the work, you do what you have to do and you go home. But you’re enjoying the time. I always had a smile on my face. There’s a reason they’ve had so much success in Colorado.”

‘You can’t just be a hardo’

There was a while he was leading the club to its first double-digit win season in seven years. He was borrowing from a line from Jon Gordon’s book, ‘The Power of Positive Leadership’ that said ‘great leaders are demanding, not demeaning.’

That is, in a nutshell, a huge part of modern coaching in any sport. Several of Bednar’s players, both past and present, believe it perfectly describes his coaching style.

“There are coaches out there that yell and scream all day. Then when that doesn’t work, they’re kind of out of bullets,” Avs star Nathan MacKinnon said. “So then, what? You’re going to be nice now? What����ap your next plan? We’re all intelligent humans. I think there has to be a good, intelligent message coming from the coach of like why are we doing something wrong, why do we need to change something?”

MacKinnon has played for two coaches over the past two seasons. He’s also spent a lot of time with Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper preparing for and playing in the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics.

“It����ap no coincidence that they’re the two longest-tenured coaches,” MacKinnon said. “You can’t just be a hardo every single day. It����ap just painful. I couldn’t imagine it, to be honest, just coaching with straight emotion and no logic or reasoning would be tough.”

Bednar played for a lot of coaches like that growing up. He can be an emotional guy.

He will rip into his team in the media after a particularly porous effort, but it’s pretty rare. And it’s almost never because of one bad night. One of the tentpole’s of Bednar’s coaching throughout a long season is to break it into 10-game segments, and only when he sees a downward trend in effort or defensive responsibility does he really get agitated.

During the Avalanche’s HALO analytics conference last month, Bednar revealed that he rarely goes in the locker room after games. He used to. He loved celebrating wins with his players at the ECHL and AHL levels.

But, part of his growth as a coach was to take a step back. The players don’t need him to celebrate, and they don’t want to hear him yelling at them minutes after a game ends. He lets everyone cool off, goes over the video and meets with the players the following day.

“I think he prepares the most of any coach I’ve been coached by,” Avs goalie Scott Wedgewood said. “I’ve never seen him come in and single out anybody or expose one person. I think he controls the room well. He gives everybody both sides of it – what����ap working, what����ap not working, why it����ap not working and what you can fix.

“It����ap not just, ‘This doesn’t work. (Expletive) fix it.’ Well, what the (expletive) does that mean? He’s very good at giving you context on both sides of what point he’s trying to get across.”

Bednar’s team meetings have become a well-known staple of his identity as a coach. His ability to blend analytics with video clips has made believers out of players old-school and new.

Players come to the Avalanche and are blown away by the level of detail in the club’s pre-scout meetings on game days. They see his ability to self-scout at both the team and individual levels, and find ways to improve.

One of Bednar’s adjustments as a coach that is specific to his time with the Avs is how much input he seeks out from the players in all sorts of aspects — whether it is game-planning for an opponent, tinkering with the power play or when to practice. The Avs even famously changed when they travel to accommodate MacKinnon’s postgame workout routine, which several other players partake in as well.

“I think a lot of my beliefs are the same,” Bednar said. “But because of the time that I’ve spent with some of our guys and our key players, I think there’s a lot more give and take, a lot more communication, sharing of ideas. They’re the ones playing the game. I want to know what they’re feeling in this situation, what they’re seeing in different situations, how can we help? What information do they need? You kind of learn that it’s just experience, even then naturally start giving them the stuff that they need, based on conversations I couldn’t have with guys six years ago.

“It’s always evolving, but the trust factor with our players that we have now has grown over time, I know what to expect from them. I want them to know what to expect from me. So things then naturally change to a certain degree.”

‘I wouldn’t want another coach’

This is Bednar’s 10th season with the Avs. He guided them from the bottom of the league to the mountaintop, and has lived in a “Stanley Cup or bust” world, with all the expectations that come with that, for more than half his tenure now.

Colorado just set a franchise record for points in a season. The external expectations have not been this high since 2022, in part because of how the Avs bulldozed through the first half of the schedule.

Bednar’s ability to fuse his old-school sensibilities and strong communication skills with modern tactics, information and player management are a huge part of why this Avalanche team could be on the precipice of a second championship in five years.

“(Bednar) is a very smart guy, and that����ap why it doesn’t feel like it����ap been too long,” MacKinnon said. “He’s been my coach for 10 years and he’s great. He’s just great at communicating, and he’s a great guy. The guys really enjoy being around him.

“It����ap nice to have someone put some thought into what they’re going to say every day. I wouldn’t want another coach.”

Sam Malinski scored in regulation for the NHL-best Avalanche, who have won three of four overall and seven straight road games.

Connor McDavid scored his 48th goal for the playoff-bound Oilers, who have lost four of five. Edmonton fell two points behind first-place Vegas in the Pacific Division.

McDavid leads the league with 134 points and needs one more to become the seventh player in league history to reach 135 at least twice. The others are Wayne Gretzky (12 times), Mario Lemieux (five), Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Marcel Dionne and Steve Yzerman.

Scott Wedgewood made 30 saves for Colorado, and Edmonton’s Connor Ingram also stopped 30 shots.

In the shootout, McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored in the first two rounds for Edmonton, and Valerie Nichushkin and Martin Necas replied for Colorado. Wedgewood then stopped a wrist shot by Jack Roslovic, opening the door for MacKinnon’s game-winner.

The Avs were missing Nazem Kadri (finger), Cale Makar (upper body) and Josh Manson (upper body) as they prepare for the playoffs.

The Oilers remained without forwards Leon Draisaitl and Zach Hyman, although both resumed skating with the team on Monday.

Necas was held scoreless and still needs one point to reach 100 for the first time. Only four Avalanche players have ever hit the century mark — Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen.

Up next

Avalanche: At the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.

Oilers: Host the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday.

___

AP NHL:

Think back to before the Olympic break. The Avs struggles reached a nadir when they went 0-for-17 with the extra man leading into the break, dropping Colorado to dead last in proficiency at 15.1%.

What was an obvious refrain? They need to shoot the puck more.

Well, the Avalanche had the second-most shots on goal in the NHL on the power play from the start of the season until the Olympic break. .

Part of the reason for that is Colorado earns a lot of power plays because of its style of play, so often the percentage-based stats and the accumulation numbers don’t quite line up. It was also, in part, because the Avs had so many power plays that lasted the full two minutes, which gave them more opportunities to put shots on goal.

The biggest issue wasn’t the quantity, but the quality of those shots, with a little bit of bad luck and other minor variables mixed in.

So what changed, and when? There have been several factors that led to a big improvement in March, when the Avs went 15 of 48 on the power play — the third-best rate in the NHL at at 31.3%.

“The change was long before the break,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “The detail within the change was consistent, kind of before the break.”

Getting more quality shots

So what’s different since the break? Nazem Kadri is here, and that’s part of it. But a much bigger part is … the guys on PP1 are just executing better. They’re completing more passes, making better decisions and finding more high-quality looks.

“I have to lean like … the details, the execution, the hunger, the mindset, attitude, buy-in – to me, that’s on the players’ side of it,” Bednar said. “So 70/30 execution side of it, and all those things I just mentioned over like a change in plan since the break.”

Aesthetically, the Avs power play clearly looked better in the few games after the Olympic break. The fresh start after some time apart clearly helped. It looked more consistently dangerous, like a power play featuring a top-3 collection of talent in the NHL naturally should.

The goals started to come shortly after. Kadri’s arrival has given the club a defined first unit when everyone is healthy — Cale Makar, Nathan MacKinnon, Martin Necas, Brock Nelson and Kadri. There’s no obvious net-front guy, like Gabe Landeskog or Valeri Nichushkin, but Kadri has become something of a poacher for the Avs on the opposite side of the ice from MacKinnon and Necas.

Mikko Rantanen brought the hammer from the right circle and scored some insane redirect goals near the side of the net. Kadri’s involvement has been more varied, but in him and Nelson, the Avs have found a balance of lefties to complement the MacKinnon-Necas duo.

Here is a look under the hood at the Avs’ power play and where it ranked in some key metrics, before and after the Olympic break (through March 31):

All stats are from or

The number of shots is about the same, but the quality is up across the board. Colorado’s expected numbers being so high is a big change — even in past seasons when the Avs’ power play was among the top 5-10 in the league, their expected numbers often lagged behind.

The reason? MacKinnon, Makar, and Rantanen, plus a net-front guy or two, can outshoot expected models with raw finishing talent.

If we look at the per-60-minute numbers, that weeds out Colorado’s ability to rack up volume solely from having so many power plays. It’s a better indicator of sustainable success.

The per-60 numbers are slightly lower than the volume numbers, but they still represent a dramatic improvement. That is much closer to the sweet spot the Avs are trying to find.

They have guys like MacKinnon, Makar and now Necas who can turn a so-so scoring chance into a goal with a nasty shot. But finding better looks more consistently has made everyone more dangerous.

How does that look at the individual level? The differences in both who is shooting and how much are noticeable.

Here’s before the Olympic break, both at the team level (on ice shot attempts per 60 minutes) and individual (shots on goal per 60 minutes):

As a reference, the Florida Panthers are the best team in the league over the course of the full season at 115 shot attempts per 60 minutes on the power play. The Vancouver Canucks are 10th at 106.72.

Now, here’s after the Olympic break, for the guys who have settled in on PP1:

Obviously, the shot attempt numbers are outstanding. MacKinnon’s is a little less because he stays out with PP2 a lot, and most teams’ second unit won’t put up the same numbers as the top group.

Kadri has been a big help, likely as much for his work with puck retrievals and his passing as upgrades over Victor Olofsson, who was out there because he can really shoot it (it just didn’t go in very often for him in Denver).

One of the biggest adjustments, though, is Necas. He’s putting way more shots on net. That has helped in a couple of ways. For one, he can really, really shoot it, which leads to more goals. A more spread-out approach is also helping to open up space for everyone.

It will be interesting to see whether more opposing teams try to pressure Necas and take him away, or whether the track record of MacKinnon and Makar keeps PKers from giving them more space.

“I think we have the talent there to be a top power play in the league,” Bednar said. “And it’s not a short stretch anymore, either. So they’ve been doing good things and getting rewarded for it. Every goal we get and every discussion we have, we expect it to sort of keep growing.

“And there’s a lot of good conversations between those guys on like, hey, did you see this. Let’s try that. And then it’s just kind of starting to click and come together for us.”

The Avalanche star scored his 50th during his first shift of the night Wednesday against the Vancouver Canucks at Ball Arena. MacKinnon wheeled near the left point and snapped a shot past goalie Kevin Lankinen just 82 seconds into the contest.

MacKinnon scored No. 49 on Monday night against the Calgary Flames. It was a power-play marker late in the second period.

He also had 51 two years ago, when he swept the league MVP awards (Hart Trophy, Ted Lindsey Award). MacKinnon is the third player in franchise history to reach the milestone at least twice. Avs president Joe Sakic did so in 1995-96 and 2000-01. Michel Goulet did it four years in a row, from 1982-86, while the franchise was based in Quebec City.

Goulet holds the franchise record for goals in a season with 57. Mikko Rantanen has the Denver-based standard after scoring 55 during the 2022-23 season.

MacKinnon currently leads the NHL in goals, and could win the Rocket Richard Trophy for the first time in his career. The only player in franchise history to lead the league in goals was Milan Hejduk in 2002-03.

The Avs’ superstar now has two seasons with at least 50 goals and 70 assists. MacKinnon is the only active player with multiple 50-goal, 70-assist seasons, though Connor McDavid could join him with seven more goals this season. There are only six players in league history who have hit both of those markers more than once in a season — Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Guy Lafleur, Marcel Dionne, Phil Esposito and Steve Yzerman.

MacKinnon is the 16th player in league history to score 50-plus goals in his age-30 season or later. It has been done 23 times, most recently by Edmonton’s Zach Hyman in 2023-24. Sakic is on the list, with his career-best 54-goal season in 2000-01.

When the Avs play well, like truly a great game in all facets, they win nearly every game against 30 of the 31 potential opponents in the league. When they play suffocating defense and get strong goaltending, their offensive firepower eventually wins out.

That formula doesn’t seem to apply against the Dallas Stars. It had to feel like a case of déjà vu Wednesday night, both for the Avalanche players and the patrons at Ball Arena.

Colorado played one of its best games of the season. The defense was great. The goaltending was strong. The penalty kill was perfect. The power play was consistently dangerous.

And yet, the Avs did not win. When the two best teams in the NHL get together this season, it has essentially been a coin flip, regardless of how well the Avs play.

“I think you’ve got two teams that are very evenly matched and built similarly,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “It is what it is. They’re a very good team. They’ve got great depth and scoring and they defend the right way and play the right way. I feel like we do the same. It����ap why our records are where they are.”

Extra time to get to a winner

Colorado and Dallas are 1-2 in the Central Division, Western Conference and NHL standings. The two rivals have played three times this season, and all three showdowns have needed a shootout to provide a winner.

It feels like the culmination of a three-year dance between these two clubs. Colorado and Dallas have played 23 times since the start of the 2023-24 season. The Stars have the most points in the NHL over the past three seasons. The Avs are second.

The Avs are now 11-10-2 in those games. They are 5-8 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, but 6-2-2 in the regular season. Eight of the 23 games have needed extra time, including seven of the past 14.

Colorado has scored 81 goals in those 23 games. Dallas has scored 78.

“Great organizations, both of them,” Avs goaltender Scott Wedgewood, who spent three years with Dallas before arriving in Denver early last season, said. “A lot of great people. A lot of skill. They both want to win. They both want to do the right things and beat each other. It����ap always hard fought. It����ap always a battle. Proved it again tonight.”

The Avs came away from Wednesday night feeling like they were the better team for the majority of the 65 minutes. All of the statistics agree with them, except the scoreboard.

That was the case in at least five of the games during their epic 2025 playoff series, but the Stars survived in Game 7 at home, thanks to a hat trick and four-point third period from Mikko Rantanen.

The process was great again on Wednesday night. Colorado held Dallas without a shot on goal for more than 16 minutes to start the game. The Avs nearly doubled the Stars up on the shot clock and won both special teams.

But Jake Oettinger was great, and the Avs couldn’t find a second goal to prevail before the shootout.

“Both teams played extremely hard,” Bednar said. “I’m sure both teams come out of this game happy with their game. We know that����ap what it����ap going to look like. As much as we can play like that down the stretch, the better prepared we’re going to be for the playoffs.”

Likely on a playoff collision course

When these two teams play a wide-open game, there is little to separate them. When both sides lock in on the defensive side of the puck, there is even less.

The process was great. The experience gained, the positive work the coaching staff will point to in video sessions, could help propel the Avs in the final month of the season.

For now, the Avs have to forget about trying to solve the Stars. They need to hold them off in the standings to avoid a first-round date with the Minnesota Wild, a club that has spent a decent chunk of this season in third place in the Central, West, and NHL standings.

There will be one more meeting, for sure, on April 4 in Dallas. Regardless of who wins the Central, the other will be favored to survive a series against Minnesota.

The chances of another seven-game war, this time in the second round, are pretty high. Both clubs will get key players back from injuries. And given everything we’ve seen over the past three seasons, the margins between them will be razor-thin.

“I think it����ap going to be something different on every night. When you break it down into a series, if we’re fortunate enough to play them at some point, I think it����ap a game of mistakes. If you look at (Wednesday) night, very few mistakes from our team.

“When it comes down to it, it����ap you have to capitalize on a couple of their mistakes or the chances that you create and make sure they don’t on theirs, because there is only going to be a handful of quality scoring chances in any one of those games. You have to have every aspect of your game in order.”

They witnessed one of the best NHL games of the season, a 5-4 comeback win for the Avs. It was quite the introduction to what is currently one of the league’s best rivalries.

“It looked like two teams that have history,” Myers said. “Yeah, you could tell. It looked a lot like a playoff game. I expect the same (Wednesday) night, and I’m excited to jump into it.”

Myers and Bunting will be in the lineup Wednesday night when the Stars come to Ball Arena for another showdown between the two best teams in the NHL. Both clashes this season have followed a similar script — Colorado playing catch-up in the second half of the game, then a shootout to decide things.

Dallas won here in October. Colorado went to the DFW and prevailed a little less than two weeks ago.

Avalanche forward Nicolas Roy did arrive at AAC in time to play for his new team. His first game in a Colorado sweater was against Dallas. It was like hopping on a bullet train.

“It was a lot,” Roy said. “Trying to catch up on a new system. I got there in the morning that day. Didn’t sleep much. It was a really fast-paced playoff-type game. It was fun to be part of.”

Colorado-Dallas is not the fiercest rivalry in the NHL right now. The Avs and Stars haven’t had games devolve into all-out brawls like Tampa Bay and Florida have.

It doesn’t have the natural geographical ties of some of the league’s best rivalries. But there is some old history from when the two clubs were competing with Detroit for NHL supremacy at the turn of the century.

And most importantly, the recent history is more than enough to heighten the stakes. Dallas has knocked Colorado out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs three times this decade — in the COVID-19 bubble tournament of 2020, then again in each of the past two years.

The epic seven-game series a year ago ended with Mikko Rantanen scoring a third-period hat trick against his former club, an ending that movie writers might struggle to script. An encore could be coming soon, as well.

“I saw it from afar and got a little taste last year with the playoffs,” Avs center Brock Nelson said. “It’s right up there with the best rivalries, for sure. Just given the success that both teams have had over the last few years and the expectations on both teams, I think it makes it even more exciting, more electric too. As an athlete and a competitor, these are the games you want to be part of.”

The level of vitriol between the two fan bases, particularly online, is absolutely on par with some of the league’s best rivalries. Dallas fans have three recent playoff triumphs to boast about. Colorado fans have the 2022 Stanley Cup run.

These have been the two best teams in the NHL for the vast majority of this season. While the Avs were bulldozing their way to a historic 31-2-7 start, the only teams within 15 points of Colorado were Minnesota and Dallas.

When the Avs faltered before the Olympic break, the Stars reeled them back in. Dallas is 14-1-1 since Jan. 23, and the Stars came to Denver just three points shy of the league leaders.

“I think it’s more like, we are both aiming for the same end goal here, and we’ve got to go through one another to get there,” Bunting said. “These are playoff-feel games. They’re going to be high intensity, highly competitive and really fast. I’m looking forward to it.

“These are easy games to wake up for. I’m sure over there, they all woke up pretty easy this morning to come play against us too. Everyone is looking forward to it.”

Both of these clubs could win the Stanley Cup this season. They know the road to that parade will likely go through the other.

This game will have the feel of a heavyweight title fight, even with key injuries on both sides. So will the one April 4 back in Dallas. And then we’ll all wait and see if there’s yet another titanic battle looming in the playoffs.

“These are awesome games. The rivalry is definitely there,” Avs defenseman Brett Kulak said. “I’m new here, so I don’t know how it has developed over time. Right now, it is all about who wants to be on top of the league. That’s pretty much all the motivation you need to carry into tonight.”

The league rescinded MacKinnon’s game misconduct from Tuesday night, the Colorado Avalanche star told The Denver Post on Thursday morning.

“I think (general manager Chris MacFarland) asked them to review it, from what I know, and they took it away,” MacKinnon said. “Mistakes happen.”

MacKinnon was assessed a major penalty and a game misconduct late in the second period of Colorado’s 4-3 loss to the Edmonton Oilers at Ball Arena after he collided with goaltender Connor Ingram.

While the NHL’s decision doesn’t change anything about Tuesday night, it is an important distinction for MacKinnon moving forward.

, “any player who incurs a total of two game misconduct penalties in the “Physical Infractions Category,” before playing in 41 consecutive regular season league games without such penalty, shall be suspended automatically for the next league game of his team. For each subsequent game misconduct penalty, the automatic suspension shall be increased by one game.”

Mikko Rantanen is the most recent player who was suspended for a game because of the policy. Rantanen was assessed two game misconducts in a three-game span earlier this season and was suspended for Dallas’ next contest.

The physical infractions category includes boarding, charging, checking from behind, clipping, elbowing, head-butting, interference and kneeing. MacKinnon’s game misconduct counter is now reset to zero, for the purposes of rule 23.6.

How the play happened

MacKinnon was driving to the net near the right post for a cross-ice pass from Brock Nelson. Edmonton defenseman Darnell Nurse met MacKinnon at the edge of the crease and made contact with the Avs star.

MacKinnon then crashed into Ingram, causing an injury that forced the goaltender from the game. After a lengthy review, the officials confirmed the major interference penalty. He was also assessed a game misconduct because of the injury to Ingram, who left the game and did not return.

“I just assumed they wanted to review it and that’s why they gave the five, and then I thought I’d be back on the ice for a power play,” MacKinnon said. “I knew I got hit. There’s a picture of me with my skates going above the crease. So I got hit. Nurse made a good play on the puck and hit me after. There was nothing I could do.”

The Avs were able to kill off the major penalty against MacKinnon and tie the game in the third period, but Connor McDavid scored with 10:57 remaining and the home team was unable to mount another comeback.

After the loss, Avs coach Jared Bednar said the play should not have been a penalty of any kind, let alone a major infraction and a game misconduct.

“Like I said, mistakes happen. They know they made a mistake and that’s why they took away the five,” MacKinnon said. “Obviously, I wasn’t doing anything on purpose. I was playing the puck and I got hit.

“It was bizarre, especially when you know you didn’t do anything wrong.”

FOOTNOTES: Defenseman Nick Blankenburg will make his Avalanche debut Thursday night against the Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena. Blankenburg was acquired March 4 from the Nashville Predators for a 2027 fifth-round pick. Colorado will play Seattle with 11 forwards and seven defensemen because Ross Colton, injured Tuesday against Edmonton, is not available and the Avs decided against calling up a forward from the Colorado Eagles.

Just a few hours before the Avs came back from two goals down to defeat the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center, Colorado made the biggest move of trade deadline day and brought a Stanley Cup champion home. The Avs traded for Nazem Kadri, who had to leave after winning the championship in 2022 but is back to help his old pals try to win another.

“It’s very exciting,” Avs captain Gabe Landeskog said after the 5-4 shootout win. “He’s a world-class player. He had 35 goals last year and continues to produce. He’s a gamer. We know that from the past. I love the guy, so it’s super exciting to bring him back into our room.”

Colorado had a successful lead-in to deadline day. Avalanche management had already checked three items off the wishlist:

• Brett Kulak added size, improved defensive solidity to the back end
• Nicolas Roy as the new No. 3 center
• Nick Blankenburg as the new No. 7 defenseman

The Avs were already happy with their newfound center depth. Then, they added Kadri at the buzzer.

Now, Parker Kelly is the No. 6 option at center, while having a career-year playing mostly on the wing. He was the club’s No. 3 option at center for a big chunk of last season, before Jack Drury arrived ahead of Roy and Kadri.

“It adds a guy we know really well.” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “We’ve won with him before. It’s exciting. The guy’s got a lot of friends still on the team. He’s excited to come back. I’m excited to have him back. It’s another impact, dynamic player that you can put in your roster.

“We’ll see how it all sorts out eventually.”

Kadri was the No. 2 center behind Nathan MacKinnon when the Avs steamrolled through the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Now, the Avs have Brock Nelson, who already has 30 goals in 61 games, in that spot. Kadri could be the No. 3 guy, with Roy shifting to the wing.

Or that could be reversed. One of them could have the chance to fill in on one of the top two lines while Artturi Lehkonen is out with an injury.

“Super happy,” MacKinnon said. “Obviously, we’re pumped to have Naz back. It’s exciting for the fans, for this organization, all of us in this room. I think we needed a little bit more game-breaking, a little scoring punch we might have missed last year in the playoffs.”

“Obviously, it’s a lot of pressure on us. We’ve got to perform. Once again, our management’s going all in. We definitely appreciate (management) putting us in a good spot.”

The Avalanche was already atop the NHL standings. It’s been that way for closing in on four months. Colorado was already the betting favorite to win the Stanley Cup.

Then the Avs won deadline day.

“You want to put yourself in a position where your management can go out and try to improve the team this time of year. That’s all you’re looking for,” Lankdeskog said. “We’ve got full faith in (general manager Chris MacFarland) and our staff to put the best team we possibly can on the ice. That’s something they’ve done. It gives us quite a bit of power through the middle and flexibility.”

It was an interesting scene Friday night in downtown Dallas. The two best teams in the NHL were on the ice for warmups, but both clubs were missing their most recent additions ahead of the deadline, plus a key Finn (Lehkonen for Colorado, Mikko Rantanen for Dallas).

Meanwhile, Kadri was speaking to the media via Zoom, excited about the homecoming. The Avs are hopeful that Kadri will be in Denver by Sunday morning, and it’s plausible that he could be in the lineup at Ball Arena against the Minnesota Wild.

“Knowing that I’m coming back to Colorado is just a dream come true,” Kadri said. “The situation they’ve put themselves in, and just me being able to tag along and add, I cannot wait.

“It’s surreal. It feels like deja vu all over again, and nostalgic, to say the least.”

On a day where the Colorado Avalanche made a stunning last-second trade to re-acquire Nazem Kadri just before the deadline, the Dallas Stars scored four times in the first 22 minutes before the visitors came all the way back for a wild 5-4 shootout win Friday night at American Airlines Center.

The win puts the Avs seven points clear of the Stars at the top of the NHL standings, while Colorado also has a game in hand. It also stopped Dallas’ 10-game winning streak.

“I thought we played pretty well. Great comeback win,” Avs star Nathan MacKinnon said. “The second half of that game, I thought we played really, really well. The shots, the chances were in our favor, so a solid win.”

Valeri Nichushkin scored a 6-on-5 goal with 13.2 seconds to send this game to overtime. It was his 13th goal of the season, and just his second since scoring a hat trick on New Year’s Eve.

Nichuhskin and Martin Necas also both scored pretty shootout goals to earn the second point.

“Yeah, it’s huge,” MacKinnon said of Nichushkin’s goal. “I don’t know how long it was, but it was a little bit. Huge for our team. He played awesome.”

Necas had a four-point night for the Avs, while MacKinnon had a goal and two assists.

The Avs did not have a good first period at 5-on-5, but the power play roared to life to keep them in it. Cale Makar scored on a wrister from the right circle at 3:33 of the first. It was the third great look of the man advantage, and Makar’s 19th goal of the season. MacKinnon picked up his 60th assist on the play.

MacKinnon scored in the final seconds of the period on a one-timer from Necas to give Colorado two power-play goals in the same game for the first time since Jan. 8 against Ottawa and only the sixth time all season.

In between the extra-man tallies, the Stars racked up a trio of goals. Miro Heiskanen tied the score with a power-play goal at 7:11 of the first. His shot from the top of the zone hit Avs defenseman Devon Toews just in front of Mackenzie Blackwood.

Wyatt Johnston’s first shot went wide left from the right circle, but he went into that corner, came back into the left circle and beat Blackwood with another try at 10:39 to put the Stars in front.

Blackwood gifted a goal to Justin Hryckowian and Dallas took a 3-1 lead. The goalie went behind the net to play the puck, but put it off Toews. When he tried to recover in front of the net, Blackwood got turned around and Hryckowian had a wide-open net to shoot at from the right circle.

Hryckowian created the fourth Dallas goal and ended Blackwood’s evening less than two minutes into the second period. He engaged with Josh Manson behind the Colorado net, created a turnover and fed Stars captain Jamie Benn in front for a goal from the edge of the crease at 1:52.

Scott Wedgewood replaced Blackwood after he allowed four goals on 11 shots. Wedgwood was spectacular at times, stopping all 10 shots he faced plus Jason Robertson and Matt Duchene.

“That was one of his best games, or partial games, that I’ve ever seen him play,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “We gave up some glorious chances at the start when he went in there. We needed some saves to keep that game within reach.

“We needed a big performance from him going in there in order to win that hockey game and he was exceptional.”

Necas helped set up the first two Colorado goals, then he scored the third to bring the visitors back within one. MacKinnon slipped him the puck in the right circle, and Necas wired a wrist shot into the top-right corner for his 28th goal of the year.

He now has six goals and 14 points in six games since the Olympic break, which came after he led Czechia with three goals and eight points in Milan.

“I think (the Olympics) was a little bit of a coming out part for him,” Bednar said. “I think he realized that, and he’s come back and played with a ton of confidence. What I like about his game is he’s always been a dynamic offensive player, he’s putting more of an onus on his checking.

“He’s turning into not just a dynamic offensive player, but a trusted defensive player as well.”

MacKinnon continues to lead the NHL with 42 goals. He’s up to 103 points, which trails only Edmonton’s Connor McDavid.

This was the first of three meetings between the two best teams in the NHL between now and the end of the regular season. Dallas will come to Denver on March 18, while the Avs will be back here in North Texas on April 4.

Both teams should be closer to full strength by then. Dallas played this game without Mikko Rantanen, plus new trade additions Michael Bunting and Tyler Myers. Colorado was without Artturi Lehkonen and Kadri, whom the Avs added in a deadline-day stunner from the Calgary Flames.

Stars No. 1 center Roope Hintz did leave this game with a lower-body injury after he got tangled up with MacKinnon in the corner during the second period. He left the ice without putting any eight on his left leg.