For about 16 minutes Monday night, the shorthanded Colorado Avalanche, buoyed by a sensational start from goalie Alexandar Georgiev and a full-throated Ball Arena crowd, looked capable of pulling off the improbable.
Alas, reality set in soon after that.
The Dallas Stars took full advantage of an Avalanche team missing both Valeri Nichushkin and Devon Toews, and cruised to a dominant 5-1 victory in Game 4 to take full control of this second-round series and put this once-promising Colorado hockey season on the brink.
Dallas will have the first of three chances to knock Colorado out of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs on Wednesday night in Game 5 at American Airlines Center.
“We looked frozen in the first period. We were not moving. We were not skating,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “It looked like we were exhausted and we should be in the rested team. I thought we got better in the second, but it was still a struggle. Slow pace, slow thinking, lack of execution. I didn’t feel like the guys were not trying, but just everything felt like it was a struggle tonight.”
Good news about the Avalanche roster, in the form of Jonathan Drouin making his Colorado postseason debut, was quickly washed away about an hour before the game. The NHL and NHLPA announced that Nichushkin has been placed in Stage 3 of the NHL-NHLPA Player Assistance Program, which carries a minimum six-month suspension without pay.
Nichushkin led the team with nine goals in the first eight games of this postseason and was also tied for the NHL lead with Edmonton’s Zach Hyman. He also set career-highs in goals (28) and points (53) this season despite missing nearly two months after his most recent absence while in the players assistance program.
“We’re not using that as an excuse,” Bednar said. “We lose a good player in Val today. We (also) add a good player in Drouin. And he played well tonight, (Drouin). I thought for the amount of time he had off, I thought that he had good legs and played hard and played well. I think that’s not an excuse for our team, for us.”
If that wasn’t enough of a demoralizing blow, defenseman Devon Toews was also ruled out of the lineup with an illness. The Avs were forced to face the top team in the Western Conference without two of their top five players.
Georgiev was spectacular early, but the Stars poured on the offensive pressure in a way they have not been able to against the Avalanche in the previous three games of this series. Colorado had a power play late in the first period, and that was the beginning of the Avs’ undoing — on the ice at least.
Cale Makar turned the puck over in his own zone, and then Sam Steel and Wyatt Johnston combined for three shots in quick succession. Georgiev got the first two, but not Johnston’s rebound at 15:37.
Johnston scored again 5:46 into the second period to give Dallas a 2-0 lead. At that point, the Stars had a 22-4 advantage in shots on goal. When the Avs did find some time in the offensive zone, the guys in white were able to clog shooting lanes and keep the puck away from goalie Jake Oettinger.
Miro Heiskanen’s shot from the right point pinballed its way into the net behind Georgiev to give the Stars a 3-0 lead just past the halfway point in the second.
“Slow to check. Starts with myself,” Makar said. “I feel like every time I touched the puck tonight, it was bobbling, so just fighting it. In those circumstances, you’ve got to find a way to play simple, it’s unfortunate. I feel like a few of those are definitely on me. We can be a lot better in different areas, but definitely feels like we’re just kind of chasing after them at times in our zone.”
The Avalanche did make a push after that. Casey Mittelstadt scored his second goal of the postseason to get Colorado on the board 71 seconds later. Drouin was credited with the lone assist, his first postseason point with the club.
Colorado had its best period of puck possession early in the third, but Dallas’ combination of strong in-zone defending limited the quality of the Avs’ chances and Oettinger was rock solid.
When Evgenii Dadonov punched home a rebound with 10:33 remaining in the third to restore Dallas’ three-goal lead, some of those fans who had tried to will their team to an improbable victory headed for the exits.
We’ll find out on Wednesday night if they were exiting Ball Arena for the final time this season.
“We have nothing to lose,” Avs forward Andrew Cogliano said. “We’re going in there, we need to win a game. I know it’s cliché but in games like this, you have zero regrets. You give it all you’ve got physically, mentally you lay it on the line and see where the chips fall and go from there. you want no regrets with your effort and your preparation and how hard you play. That’s the bottom line going into a game like this.”
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