Wyatt Johnston produced two goals and an assist for the Dallas Stars in a 6-2 win against the visiting Colorado Avalanche in Game 5 of their Western Conference first-round playoff series on Monday night.
The Stars own a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven series heading to Game 6 on Thursday in Denver.
Mikko Rantanen recorded a goal and two assists, Roope Hintz had a goal and an assist, Thomas Harley and Mason Marchment also scored and Jake Oettinger made 26 saves for the Stars, who had netted a total of one goal in regulation the previous two games.
“I’m not surprised by our response. We’ve got a proud group,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “I think they feed off people doubting them.”
Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and an assist, Artturi Lehkonen also scored and Martin Necas had two assists for the Avalanche. Mackenzie Blackwood stopped 13 of 18 shots before he was replaced for the third period. Scott Wedgewood stopped all eight shots he faced.
Johnston scored the quickest goal to start a playoff game in team history to give Dallas a 1-0 lead nine seconds into the contest.
The Stars won the faceoff and Evgenii Dadonov dumped the puck into the Avalanche zone. MacKinnon and teammate Cale Makar appeared to lose sight of the puck, allowing Johnston to get to it first along the goal line and bank his shot off Blackwood and into the net on the short side.
The goal matched the fifth fastest ever in a postseason game.
“We knew they were going to be a desperate group and we wanted to make sure we matched that and set the pace,” Colorado forward Gabriel Landeskog said. “We weren’t quite able to do that, fall behind to start the game and then you’re playing from behind the whole game.”
Dallas made it 2-0 with 45 seconds left in the opening period when Harley’s one-timer from the high slot went off Blackwood’s blocker and straight in the air before sliding down his back and across the goal line.
Rantanen scored his first goal of the playoffs off a feed from Hintz to finish a rush and extend the lead to 3-0 at 1:12 of the second.
“We put ourselves in a little bit of a hole down 3-0 to start the second. We started scratching and clawing our way back into it and I thought we started playing well,” Landeskog said.
The Avalanche cut it to 3-1 at 12:11 of the middle period on a redirection by Lehkonen.
Colorado scored again at 14:38 when MacKinnon drove from the left point to the slot and powered in a wrist shot.
The Stars answered with two quick goals late in the second period.
Johnston scored on a wrist shot from the bottom of the left circle while on a power play to make it 4-2 at 16:48, and Marchment scored with a tip to make it 5-2 at 18:32.
Hintz scored the lone goal of the third period when he hit an empty net with 2:05 left.
–Field Level Media
