Stars top Avalanche in OT in Game 3, take lead in Western 1st Round

DENVER -- Tyler Seguin scored at 5:31 of overtime to give the Dallas Stars a 2-1 win against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 3 of the Western Conference First Round at Ball Arena on Wednesday.

Seguin corralled Mason Marchment’s pass with his skate at the right circle, kicked the puck up to his stick, and sent a wrist shot short side over the shoulder of Mackenzie Blackwood to win it.

Dallas killed off a four-minute Colorado power play prior to Seguin’s goal following a double minor against Marchment at 19:20 of the third period for high-sticking.

“I wanted to one-time it. It was off, a little inside, and my subconscious was go low glove,” Seguin said. “I think you think about OT winners and you feel how important they are, but [there's] just so much more tonight than that goal. I mean, it's the penalty kill. It's the details of the game of what the guys did.

“It's Mikko Rantanen on that shift before I scored, and what he did -- battling off three guys and changing for me. I was just the beneficiary of it, and collectively, just a great road win by the guys.”

The Stars lead the best-of-7 series 2-1. Game 4 is in Denver on Saturday (9:30 p.m. ET; Victory+, MAX, truTV, TBS, ALT, SN, TVAS).

Jamie Benn also scored, and Rantanen had an assist for Dallas, which is the No. 2 seed from the Central Division. Jake Oettinger made 27 saves.

“Gutsy win,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “You go in after the game and you want to acknowledge some of the key guys and key plays, and really, I could’ve gone around the room. Everybody jumped in tonight and did their part. I thought we worked for a win, did a lot of really good things.

“‘Otter’ was great. It started last game. I thought he got better as the game went on as the heat turned up in the game. He got better last game, and he did the same tonight. That’s not an easy game for him to play in.”

Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog played in his first NHL game in almost three years, recording a team-high six hits and winning one of two face-offs in 13:16 of ice time. The 32-year-old forward hadn’t played since June 26, 2022, when he had an assist to help the Avalanche defeat the Tampa Bay Lightning 2-1 in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final to win the Cup.

“I felt pretty good; speed-wise, legs, physically, I felt good,” Landeskog said. “It felt great in all areas tonight, in terms of just being back, and then on the ice, play-wise, there's areas to improve. But very special night, regardless of the outcome, and looking forward to Saturday already.”

Valeri Nichushkin scored, and Sam Malinski had an assist in his first NHL playoff game for the Avalanche, who are the No. 3 seed from the Central. Blackwood made 26 saves.

“We knew it wasn't going to be easy -- we're playing one of the top teams in the League,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “That's what you can expect. Not a lot of room out there on either side of it, right? Someone's got to make and have an exceptional effort, five guys all on the same page, everyone doing the right thing, and then you still got to be able to beat their coverage in order to create scoring chances.

“The reality of it is it's the first team to four (wins), and we're still in the series.”

Nichushkin gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 8:09 of the first period when he skated around the left circle, past a moving pick set by Brock Nelson, and into the slot before deking Oettinger in front and tucking the puck past his right leg at the left post.

Benn tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 9:18 of the third period. He redirected Thomas Harley’s shot from the blue line past Blackwood’s glove from between the hash marks.

“[It was a] huge relief,” Oettinger said. “It felt like we were knocking on the door for a while, and felt like we were going to get our chance if we could just keep it close. And we did that as a group. Power play stepped up huge, and happy to see 'Benner' (score). Huge goal. Everyone along this run's going to have to step up.”

NOTES: Benn scored his 28th career playoff goal, tying Dino Ciccarelli and Neal Broten for the fourth most in Stars/North Stars franchise playoff history. … Benn scored a third-period game-tying goal in the postseason for the fifth time, which tied Joe Pavelski for the most in franchise history. … Seguin recorded his sixth game-winning goal in the playoffs with the Stars to tie Brett Hull, Pavelski and Jamie Langenbrunner for the sixth most in franchise history. … Dallas, which earned a 4-3 overtime victory in Game 2, won consecutive overtime games in the playoffs for the first time in franchise history.