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Avalanche Unload Five Straight Goals To Defeat Dallas

After a slow start, Colorado came roaring back to defeat the high-powered Dallas Stars.

By RyanMurphyMHH
Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

Flashback to one week ago: The national media was resolute that Colorado's offense was in big trouble."The Avalanche can't score in the preseason! This almost certainly portends horrible, terrible things!" Well, ten goals in two games later, observers can clearly see the offensive firepower is there. Surely, the pundits are all reversing their prognostications, right? We're not holding our breath.

The Avalanche didn't initially appear ready to redeem themselves after Thursday night's unthinkable collapse; in fact, they didn't appear ready to start the game at all -- allowing Mattias Janmark to skate right to the net and score just 20 seconds into the game. Nine minutes later Nathan MacKinnon would get even, scoring off two nice passes from Alex Tanguay and Gabe Landeskog. However, Dallas would take another lead just a minute later with a Cody Eakin goal.

Eakin would strike again on a power play midway through the 2nd Period, putting the Stars up 3-1, but that's when Colorado finally put its foot down. Before the second intermission, the Avs would score on two power play goals from Erik Johnson and Jarome Iginla. The onslaught would continue into the 3rd with three more goals, one from John Mitchell and two from captain Gabriel Landeskog, sealing the game at 6-3.

AvsStarsCFGraph

Stand-Outs

  1. Gabriel Landeskog - The captain made a major statement after turning in a tough game against the Wild. Four points (2G, 2A) led all players on the ice. He was the difference between the Avs winning and losing tonight.
  2. Nathan MacKinnon - Not far behind was Landeskog's center, who turned in three points (1G, 2A) himself and won 62.5% of his face-offs.
  3. Francois Beauchemin - Colorado received a lot of grief for the contract they signed the 35-year old to this summer. So far, this move has looked outstanding, with Beauchemin notching another two assists (now five points in two games) and leading all skaters with 24:24.

Schmucks

  1. Antii Niemi - After posting a 37-save shutout against the Penguins, the Stars' offseason acquisition fell apart midway through the 2nd period against the Avalanche. A .786 save percentage isn't going to get it done against any NHL team.
  2. Carl Soderberg - The Avalanche's 3rd line center (acquired in free agency from the Bruins) has yet to play a good game in a Colorado uniform. His inexperienced line mates Borna Rendulic and Mikko Rantanen are largely to blame. Neither has warranted more than minimal playing time and this has stunted Soderberg's adjustment to his new team.
  3. Overreacters - Shout out to all the doomsayers who were handing the Avs the 2016 1st Overall Pick after Thursday's 3rd period debacle. It's a long season, and that loss meant about as much as this win. Neither are enough of a sample to make any sweeping judgments. Let's sit back and find out what kind of team we have first, yeah?