Blackwell scores in OT, lifts Stars past Avalanche in Game 2 of Western 1st Round

DALLAS – Colin Blackwell scored at 17:46 of overtime to give the Dallas Stars a 4-3 win against the Colorado Avalanche in Game 2 of the Western Conference First Round at American Airlines Center on Monday.

After his initial shot in the slot was blocked, Blackwell skated into the rebound below the right circle and lifted it over Mackenzie Blackwood’s glove to tie the best-of-7 series 1-1.

“That was a big win for us. I think if we go into Colorado down 2-0 it’s a different series,” Blackwell said. “That’s why you’re only as good as your next win or your next shift. Whether you make a mistake or things don’t go your way, you’ve got to have a short memory in order to do well in this league and go far in the playoffs. We did a good job of just being smart and sticking to the game plan and doing really well.”

Game 3 is in Denver on Wednesday (9:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, Victory+, ALT).

“It's going to be a long, tough series and we knew that. It would have been nice to get this one, but we got to take the positives,” Colorado defenseman Cale Makar said. “Felt like we controlled the game at a lot of different times and just got to find ways to create a little bit more. Lots of positives to take away. We just got to be ready for the next one.”

Tyler Seguin, Thomas Harley and Evgenii Dadonov also scored for Dallas, which is the No. 2 seed from the Central Division. Jake Oettinger made 34 saves.

“Our season's on the line if we lose the first two games here. We got away with it last year in series one against Vegas, but you're probably not going to that well again this year and winning,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “We knew our season was on the line, and like I said, I thought we got more direct in our game, more competitive, and got rewarded for that.”

Logan O'Connor had a goal and an assist, and Nathan MacKinnon and Jack Drury scored for Colorado, which is the No. 3 seed from the Central. Blackwood made 35 saves.

“[Blackwell] cut through the slot and shot it. I kind of got bumped into by our guy, or theirs, not really sure. He came out of the corner really quick and I was facing kind of up ice and not to the post. So, he kind of beat me to the spot,” Blackwood said. “You want to win every time you play, but I thought we did a pretty good job tonight. It could have went either way.”

MacKinnon gave Colorado a 1-0 lead at 8:48 of the first period with a wrist shot from the top of the left face-off circle on the power play.

Seguin tied it 1-1 with a power-play goal at 19:06 when Matt Duchene found him with a cross-slot pass for a one-timer at the left face-off dot.

“[The game is] pretty quick. Just the emotions that come with that game, playing in front of our fans, looking up and not seeing anyone sitting down, that's what the months of being out are all worth it,” said Seguin, who missed more than four months after having hip surgery on Dec. 5. “Just being able to get back and being part of this group and part of this journey together, the highs and lows and what it feels like to win a game like that and maybe losing the first one. Now get to Colorado and try to steal the first one."

Harley gave Dallas a 2-1 lead at 3:40 of the second period with a wrist shot from the high slot after deking around the check of Colorado forward Charlie Coyle.

“You got to stay even-keeled through the whole thing, and there were times where we had good chances and a couple times where we got sloppy defensively. They're a very opportunistic team, so they're going to capitalize,” Makar said.

Drury tied it 2-2 at 4:42 of the second on a shot from the inside edge of the right circle after O’Connor chased down a dump-in.

O’Connor then put Colorado ahead 3-2 at 19:27. After back-to-back penalty kills, including seven seconds of a 5-on-3, Samuel Girard carried the puck into the offensive zone and chipped it ahead to Artturi Lehkonen, who found a cutting O’Connor for a backhand over Oettinger’s glove as he fell to the ice.

“We had 20 minutes to tie it up, and we did that, and we moved on. That’s what I like about this group. There’s a lot of character in here. We’ve been through a lot as a group and stuck with it and found a way to win,” Dallas captain Jamie Benn said.

Dadonov tied it 3-3 at 10:13 of the third period when he located a rebound at the top of the crease and shoveled the puck through Blackwood’s five-hole.

“I think they came out with a lot of desperation in the third period. We kind of stopped skating out of our zone and making plays out of our zone. We were throwing it right back to them too much in the neutral zone,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “There’s times where you got to go up and out and make the safe play, but we mismanaged the puck a little bit in the third period there. More than a little bit. We had some turnovers that we forced because of their forecheck and then we had some other ones that weren’t. They all start to add up and you start playing on your half of the rink too much and bad things are going to happen.’’

NOTE: Blackwell became the second player in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history to score an overtime goal during his first playoff game with the franchise (Brian Propp, Game 1 of the 1991 Division Semifinals).