If the Colorado Avalanche were going to be able to stave off elimination Wednesday, it was going to require heavy lifting from their stars.
In a series in which Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and Mikko Rantanen had combined for two points and were minus-17 over the course of three straight losses, it was now or never.
They responded accordingly.
“You knew we were going to get their best game of their series and we did, and their big guys were all on the scoresheet, which you probably anticipated would happen,” said Stars coach Pete DeBoer following a 5-3 loss to the Avs.
“Listen, this is a hard league to beat any team four times in a row, never mind the Colorado Avalanche when you’re in the conference semifinals and you’re down to eight teams left in the league.
“It would have been a great thing to accomplish tonight, but you have to give them credit, they played a really good road game.”
Makar scored twice, MacKinnon had a goal and an assist and Rantanen added a helper as the Avalanche broke a 2-2 tie by scoring three goals in the third for a 5-3 win that sets up Game 6 Friday in Denver.
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It marked a stirring departure from the Avs’ effort two nights earlier when news of Val Nichushkin’s suspension seemed to dull a club that looked left for dead.
MacKinnon and company all said they needed to be better, and on Wednesday they were.
“They come up and play their best game of the series and they get rewarded on skill plays that start with hard work from the group and their skill is allowed to shine,” said Avalanche coach Jared Bednar, whose club’s struggling power play scored twice.
“They were fantastic.
“Cale was outstanding, creating scoring chances not just for his linemates but for himself, beating guys one-on-one, and obviously Nate was the same way.”
Despite a strong first period, the Avs literally waited until the final second before answering the Stars’ 1-0- lead, as Artturi Lehkonen converted a MacKinnon pass with less than a second left on the clock.
Miro Heiskanen and Makar traded goals in the second period before the Avalanche took their very first lead in the series early in the third, courtesy of a Casey Mittelstadt bank-shot off Jake Oettinger from below the goal line.
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Makar’s second of the game came three minutes later, only to have a quick Logan Stankoven response set up a final 14 minutes that left the result very much in doubt until MacKinnon’s insurance marker with three minutes left.
“I like it because it was a really resilient game from us — go down twice and stay with it, don’t give up on it,” said Bednar, whose club has won five of its six playoff victories in comeback fashion.
“That’s probably the thing I liked most. It was an evenly played game and it’s been an evenly played series, with four one-goal games if you take away the empty netters.”
Makar was spectacular, juking and jiving all over the ice to create offence from the back end.
By night’s end, he had played a team-high 26:46 while turning two of his eight shot attempts into goals, including the game-winner.
The only man who played more was Heiskanen, who now has four goals and four assists in the series.
Fellow Stars blueliner Chris Tanev left the game after the first shift to deal with a dental issue – a routine the snaggle-toothed warrior is all too familiar with.
“He doesn’t have many teeth to begin with, to lose any, but from what I understand it got pushed in and they had to pull it in order for him to come back,” said DeBoer of the result of Tanev’s early run-in with MacKinnon.
“He didn’t miss many shifts though.”
He never does.
Devon Toews returned to the Avalanche lineup after missing a game, but the Avs lost Yakov Trenin early in Game 5 to injury.
The Stars were without Roope Hintz, who left Game 4 with what appeared to be a hand injury.
“It’s a tough game to play in, do or die,” said MacKinnon, crediting the power play, blocked shots and Alexandar Georgiev’s 24 saves for the win.
“We don’t want to go home, we feel like we’ve got a lot of season left. We’ve got to win another one to force Game 7 and come back here.
“It’s still 3-2 them, They’re still in the driver’s seat and we’re still desperate, so it’s do or die again on home ice. We’ve been good there all year. The last two weren’t great but hopefully we fix that.”
