Colorado had four power plays and scored on none. Dallas scored once while short-handed. Before the shootout decided Wednesday’s 3-2 Stars win, their penalty killers had supplied both the prevention and the unexpected offense that made a deciding chance possible.
One of those kills also put Dallas ahead. The Stars were called for tripping 21 seconds into the third period, then Hyry scored before a minute of that penalty had elapsed. The short-handed finish made Colorado recover a deficit after it had begun the power play level at 1-1.
The penalty ledger is worth keeping precise. Dallas’ four minors were roughing at 7:24 of the first period, tripping at 14:10, interference at 18:16 and another tripping call at 21 seconds of the third. Colorado’s power play went 0-for-4. The Avalanche took two first-period minors of their own—tripping at 2:11 and roughing at 11:08—and Dallas finished 0-for-2 with the man advantage.
That makes this a special-teams edge rather than a complete special-teams victory. Dallas got no production from its power play. Colorado, however, failed on twice as many opportunities, and the Stars found the game’s most consequential goal in a penalty-killing situation.
Hyry took the puck from Cale Makar and finished on his backhand with 1:20 gone in the third. It was unassisted, and it was his first goal this season. Dallas had begun the penalty level. It was still short-handed when it moved ahead, turning Colorado’s extra-skater opportunity into a Dallas lead.
The ordinary scoring exchange was less favorable to Dallas. Landeskog’s second-period goal put Colorado ahead. Dallas received its equalizer at 15:03 when Heiskanen finished a move credited with assists to Harley and Rantanen. Heiskanen’s goal kept Dallas attached to the game at even strength, but it did not erase the Avalanche’s later advantage in that phase.
Brock Nelson tied the score at 8:21 of the third, assisted by Artturi Lehkonen and Nazem Kadri. Colorado therefore finished with two even-strength goals to Dallas’ one; Hyry’s other regulation goal came shorthanded. Dallas did not win the five-on-five scoring battle. It won the special-teams moment that gave its even-strength offense room to matter.
Colorado had chances to make Hyry’s lead irrelevant. Gavin Brindley’s shot hit the left post at 2:47 of the third period, and Kadri struck the same post at 3:58. Dallas also came close in overtime, when Hyry hit the left post at 3:15.
The puck kept finding ways to stay out, but the Avalanche’s misses should not all be filed under penalty-killing excellence. Some were simply the narrow margins that turn a tie game into a shootout.
The broader numbers point in the same direction. Colorado finished with a 27-22 edge in shots, while Dallas blocked 19 attempts. Casey DeSmith stopped 25 of Colorado’s 27 shots.
