Despite splitting the first four games of their first-round playoff series with the Colorado Avalanche, the Dallas Stars held a lead for 62 total seconds. However, they dominated from start to finish Monday night, defeating the Avalanche 6-2 and are one win from advancing to the second round.
Following Colorado’s dominant Game 4 win to even the series, Dallas needed to respond on their home ice. It’s hard to dream of a more perfect start than the one they had in Game 5.
The Stars won the opening face-off and dumped the puck into the offensive zone; Nathan MacKinnon didn’t get a great read on it, and Wyatt Johnson got to the puck first and slapped it at unsuspecting goalie Mackenzie Blackwood. It bounced off his leg and into the net behind him, only nine seconds into the match.
The Stars finished the first period just how they started it; they caught a break with another strange goal at 19:15. Thomas Harley sent a shot off Blackwood’s blocker that went straight up in the air and landed on his back, then trickled into the net.
Dallas picked up where it left off after the first intermission; Mikko Rantanen finally scored his first playoff goal against his former team. Roope Hintz fed him on a breakaway, and Rantanen put Dallas up by three at 1:12.
Colorado got on the board at 12:11 thanks to a strong redirect by Artturi Lehkonen on a Martin Necas one-timer. MacKinnon set it up with his pass to Necas, then added his own goal at 14:38 to cut the deficit to one.
Just as Colorado grabbed the momentum, Sam Malinski took an elbowing penalty at 16:00. Dallas moved the puck around beautifully on the power play, setting Johnson up for his second goal of the night at 16:48.
Dallas scored another just a minute and 42 seconds later on a deflection from Mason Marchment, pushing its lead back to a comfortable three goals. The Stars’ defense tightened up in the third period, keeping the Avalanche off the board. Hintz scored an empty-netter at 17:55 to finish off the Dallas win.
Related: Rangers among top 5 landing spots for Mike Sullivan after coach parts ways with Penguins
3 takeaways from Stars’ 6-2 win in Game 5 against Avalanche
1. Stars use quick start to control rest of game
It can be argued that the Stars were lucky to be 2-2 in this series after leading for just over one minute through four games. They left little doubt in Game 5, though. Buoyed by an exceptionally fast start, the Stars led for 59:51 in the crucial victory.
Johnson’s quick tally marked the fastest goal in Stars postseason history, and tied three other players in NHL history for the fifth fastest playoff goal. It undoubtedly set the tone for the rest of the game; the goal immediately got the American Airlines Center crowd into it. And the Stars raced to a 3-0 lead.
Even when Colorado pulled within a goal, Dallas had enough of a cushion to withstand the push. Dallas then pulled away, heading to Denver with a chance to close this series out.
Related: Panthers’ late comeback among key takeaways from 4-2 win in Game 4 against Lightning
2. Mikko Rantanen scores first goal of series, has 3-point night
Against his old squad, Rantanen fired 12 shots on goal in the first four games, but had nothing to show for it in the goal column – he also only had one assist on the series after scoring 88 points in the regular season.
Finally, Rantanen netted his first goal in the series Monday night. He added an assist later on in the second period, taking part in a beautiful power-play goal. Rantanen also picked up an assist on Hintz’s empty-net goal in the third, and earned Second Star honors postgame.
It was undoubtedly a frustrating first four games for Rantanen, but it is a long road to the Stanley Cup Final. It may have took him longer than he would have wanted to get going, but the Stars still lead the series 3-2 despite his small contributions on the score sheet before Game 5.
If he finally is heating up, how fitting would it be for Rantanen to put up another big night to knock Colorado out on its home ice in Game 6?
3. Stars wake up offensively
It wasn’t just Rantanen who got going offensively for the Stars. Johnston scored his first two goals of the series and added an assist, after recording two helpers in the first four games. Marchment scored his first goal. Tyler Seguin’s assist was his second point of the series. Matt Duchene had an assist for his first point.
Dallas scored seven goals in the first four games, only five in regulation, with each of its previous wins coming on overtime goals. The Stars rang up six in this one and chased Blackwood from the game in the process.
Those are some nice building blocks heading into Game 6.