The Colorado Avalanche played one of their best games in the first half against the Dallas Stars on Saturday. Colorado fell apart in the second half of the contest, and Dallas pushed it to a shootout. Gavin Brindley took the spotlight in Brent Burns’ moment as he scored his first career goal. It was not enough as the Avalanche played leapfrog throughout the game, exchanging goals with the Stars. The Avalanche played one of their most physical games of the season, but Dallas held its ground. Colorado could not squeak through and fell 5–4 in a shootout, but earned a point in the loss.

View from the Mountaintop

Gavin Brindley worked his way onto the roster by playing his game in development camp and training camp. So far this season, Brindley has played in every game, becoming a standout on the fourth line in each game. On Saturday, Brindley buried his first NHL goal in just his fourth NHL game. He did exactly what he always does by crashing the net and waiting for the pass in front. Victor Olofsson threw a pass to a waiting Brindley, who tapped it in through the five-hole of Jake Oettinger.

Brent Burns played his 1,500th career game on Saturday. He is just the eighth defenseman and the 24th player to achieve the feat. The Minnesota Wild drafted Burns 20th overall in the 2003 draft. To top off the night, Burns added his first point as an Avalanche on a third period power play goal by Nathan MacKinnon. It was his 650th career assist, and he is just the 14th defenseman in NHL history to reach the mark. The 40-year-old has yet to win a Stanley Cup.

The Avalanche defense is struggling to shut down the zone. All the Stars’ goals came from the middle of the ice or in front of the net. If the defense can push the opponent out past the faceoff dots, they will have more success in shutting them down. They seemed lost, costing the Avalanche a goal in the third period.

Up Next

The Avalanche will head onto the road for a matinee game on Monday against the Buffalo Sabres at 10:30 a.m. Altitude Sports will broadcast the game.