DENVER (AP) — Tyler Seguin scored twice and Thomas Hurley assisted on all three of Dallas' points. power play goal The Western Conference-leading Stars defeated the Colorado Avalanche 7-4 on Sunday night in the second period.
Dallas currently leads the West Division with 107 points, five points ahead of Colorado and Pacific Division leader Vancouver. The Stars have four games remaining.
“It's completely in our hands, which is great,” said Matt Duchene, who scored against his former club. “If we take care of business, we will eventually get to where we want to be.”
Jamie Benn, Lupe Hintz, mason marchment Wyatt Johnston scored for the Stars, who finished the season series against the Avalanche with a 1-2-1 record. Jake Oettinger stopped 34 shots.
Dallas showed no signs of fatigue after losing 3-2 to Chicago the previous day. Due to strong winds in Denver, the team had to remain in Chicago until Sunday morning.
Coach Seguin said of the importance of the match, saying, “I think this game is over for a little while for both teams.'' “We kind of looked at the standings at this time of year and knew the importance of tonight's game. It was a very good hockey game.”
The Stars led 5-2 in the second period, but Colorado battled back and Jonathan Drouin scored to make it a one-point game with 9:45 remaining. However, Johnston ended the comeback with his 31st goal of the season. Seguin added an empty netter with 8.7 seconds left.
For a Colorado team without Mikko Rantanen (concussion protocol), Sean Walker, Artturi Lehkonen and Brandon Duhaime also scored. Alexander Georgiev allowed six goals on 36 shots, two days after allowing six goals on 47 shots against Edmonton.
The Avalanche have been going in the wrong direction in the homestretch, going 2-4-1 in their last seven games. Colorado remains in second place in the Central Division behind Dallas with 102 points. The Avalanche will look to hold off Winnipeg (100 points), and the top two in the division will get home ice in the first round.
“We did some crazy things today because of our defense,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “All of those things lead to really good scoring chances against the opponent.”
Benn absorbed the penalty, allowing the Stars to start a barrage of power plays in the second period. The Stars captain was bloodied by Walker's high stick and was hit with a double minor. Hintz and Seguin took the lead, scoring 1 minute and 20 seconds apart. Benn then took a shot off defenseman Cale Makar and Marchment scored, giving the Stars the man advantage again to make it 5-2.
“This is a different animal than some of the teams we've played,” Bednar said. “Those are wagons. They're deep.”
Nathan MacKinnon had two assists, giving him 133 points on the season (48 goals, 85 assists). He is six points away from tying Peter Stastny (139, 1981-82) for the most points in a season in franchise history.
Dallas came out flying first, outscoring the Avalanche by a 9-1 margin at one point in the period. But Colorado's only shot came from Walker just 1:59 into the game. Dallas fought back late in the period and the difference in scoring between Duchesne and Benn was 2:06.
Stars defenseman Esa Lindell returned to action from a lower-body injury. Coach Pete DeBoer said he underwent an X-ray after the game, which came back negative.
“When he wakes up, he's probably going to be sore,” DeBoer said.
next
Stars: Finish the regular season with four straight home games against Buffalo starting Tuesday.
Avalanche: Host Minnesota State on Tuesday.
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