It had been 1,041 days since Gabriel Landeskog scored a aim on NHL ice. One-thousand-forty-one days for the reason that Colorado Avalanche captain had the possibility to listen to the aim horn bellow at Ball Enviornment, to lift his arms excessive whereas teammates mobbed him out on the sheet, to listen to his title introduced to the delight of a raucous Denver crowd.
The veteran winger obtained a pared-down preview of the sensation two weeks in the past, when he potted his first aim in three years throughout an AHL conditioning stint. However Saturday night time, below the big-league lights, Landeskog actually obtained his second, scoring his first NHL aim since June 2022 to assist the Avalanche declare a convincing Sport 4 win over the Dallas Stars.
It was no present both, not a puck haphazardly deflected off a skate or a tap-in on the netfront — it was classic No. 92.
Moved as much as play alongside Brock Nelson on the second line Saturday night time, after making his return in Sport 3 as a part of Colorado’s backside six, Landeskog was flying from the bounce. Halfway by way of Sport 4, throughout a second interval that had seen Stars netminder Jake Oettinger repeatedly thwart the Avs attackers’ finest efforts, Nelson picked up the puck behind Colorado’s web and set off down the left wing.
He danced previous two Stars, drawing defender Ilya Lyubushkin in the direction of the wall, earlier than dishing to an open Landeskog within the slot. The captain made no mistake, accumulating the puck, winding up, and blasting it by Oettinger’s glove with authority.
He was mobbed by teammates towards the glass, then once more on the bench, the group raining ‘Landy! Landy!’ chants down on the ice. After the mud settled on what wound up an announcement 4-0 Avs win, he took a breath and mirrored on the burden of the second.
“It means quite a bit,” Landeskog mentioned of the aim post-game. “Clearly, I’ve envisioned scoring once more for a very long time. And there have been clearly days the place I didn’t know if I used to be ever going to get to attain once more. So, it feels good. It’s a good playoff collection and an enormous sport right here at house — to get to do it in entrance of our followers means quite a bit.
“Hopefully extra to come back.”
It wasn’t No. 92’s solely contribution on the night time. Landeskog chipped in a interval later, too, developing key on Colorado’s fourth aim of the sport.
Halfway by way of the third, the captain picked up the puck behind the online, controlling it with one arm whereas holding off 230-pound defender Lian Bichsel with the opposite. The puck made its approach to defender Samuel Girard on the level, as Landeskog continued to battle with Bichsel on the netfront — that crease chaos wound up the distinction, as Girard’s point-shot glanced off Bichsel’s skate and thru a distracted Casey DeSmith’s legs for a 4-0 Colorado lead.
After two straight time beyond regulation losses coming into Saturday night time’s tilt, Landeskog had mentioned earlier than puck-drop that his membership hadn’t but performed its finest hockey on this collection. Amid a dominant Sport 4 efficiency, the captain was requested in the event that they’d lastly proven their finest.
“Yeah,” he mentioned. “You’re seeing it proper now.”
Blackwood, Oettinger on reverse ends of Sport 4 goalie battle
It was a wild one for the netminders.
On one finish, Colorado’s Mackenzie Blackwood got here up with an important efficiency for the Avs, turning within the first playoff shutout of his profession. The 28-year-old had 4 shutouts on the season in 2024-25 — three since becoming a member of the Avalanche — the final coming a month in the past to the day, towards the Los Angeles Kings.
Whereas the squad in entrance of him got here up with a four-goal night time, the previous two video games on this collection served as proof sufficient of the significance of Blackwood’s outing, Dallas taking Video games 2 and three with one-goal OT victories.
However on the opposite finish of the sheet, it was certainly a irritating one for Dallas’s star within the cage.
Look on the rating and you would come away considering it was an off night time for Oettinger — in reality, it was certainly one of his best performances, the Stars’ netminder developing with a slew of highlight-reel saves as his defenders depart him out to dry time and time once more. The flurry culminated in a second interval that noticed Colorado pour 22 pictures on Dallas’s web, with all of the Avs’ marquee names getting grade-A cracks on the cage.
That the house facet solely led 3-0 after 40 minutes was a testomony to the work Oettinger put in. Nonetheless, after piecing collectively a dominant second interval that noticed him bail his membership out repeatedly, Oettinger began the third interval on the bench. He completed the night time with 31 saves on 34 pictures, earlier than DeSmith took over.
“Only for relaxation, for Monday,” head coach Pete DeBoer mentioned of the daring choice to drag Oettinger. “It simply didn’t make sense, within the scenario we have been in, and the way we have been enjoying, to maintain Jake in there.”
The Avs completed with 48 pictures on the night time, greater than doubling the Stars’ 23.
MacKinnon, O’Connor proceed to tempo Avs with special-teams flurry
Whereas it was the headliners who put the sport away, it was a fourth-liner who obtained the winners rolling Saturday.
Halfway by way of the opening interval, when all of it nonetheless sat degree and Dallas nonetheless had designs on taking a 3-1 lead on this collection, a play from depth winger Logan O’Connor broke the sport open for Colorado. Half-a-minute right into a Stars energy play, the puck got here to defender Thomas Harley on the Avalanche blue line — because the star rearguard tried to corral a cross, O’Connor went at him full-tilt, poking the puck free, beelining for the Dallas web, and sniping house the sport’s first aim.
The unassisted shorthanded masterpiece was O’Connor’s fifth level of this four-game collection, leaving him tied for the staff lead, regardless of averaging the Fifteenth-most minutes on the squad per night time.
Tied with him on the high of that checklist is Nathan MacKinnon, who’s been the engine for this Colorado facet since Sport 1. After placing targets on the board in Video games 1 and a couple of and discovering himself held pointless in Sport 3, No. 29 obtained again on the scoresheet Saturday in memorable style, beating Oettinger with a blistering power-play one-timer on the Avs’ second aim of the night time.
With the Sport 4 marker, MacKinnon now sits tied for the league lead in post-season goal-scoring, having potted a minimum of as soon as in three of 4 video games by way of the primary spherical to this point.
Rantanen but to interrupt out as Stars’ offence held at bay
On an evening that noticed each MacKinnon and Landeskog flutter the twine, the previous third member of the Avs’ three-headed monster trudged by way of one more disappointing night.
A lot was made from Dallas’s deadline blockbuster that introduced Mikko Rantanen to city, and of the accident that introduced No. 96 right into a first-round collection together with his former membership (after Colorado initially traded him to Carolina, who in flip flipped him to the Avs’ division rival).
A two-time 100-point scorer with Colorado, Rantanen collected 18 factors by way of 20 video games with Dallas to shut out the common season. By 4 video games on this first-round bout together with his former mates, although, he’s been largely silenced.
The gifted Finn has a lone secondary help to his title to this point in Spherical 1 — albeit a reasonably necessary one, Rantanen having helped spur the play that resulted in Dallas’s Sport 3 time beyond regulation winner. Outdoors of that sequence, he’s been held off the board by his former membership, going pointless in Video games 1 and a couple of, and once more Saturday night time in Sport 4.
With the collection now tied, and a best-of-three remaining, it’s a development that certainly needs to be righted if the Stars hope to writer one other deep run by way of the West.
