DENVER —The Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars battled to a thrilling overtime game today that spoiled Mikko Rantanen’s return. The Avalanche played an intense but dominate game against one of the top teams in the league. Dallas came into the game three points ahead of Colorado. But, thanks to an exciting overtime game, the will remain two points ahead with two games in hand. In the end, Cale Makar would play hero for the Avalanche in their 4–3 OT win.

First period

The arena had the feeling of a playoff game from the start. Just over one minute into the game, Stars captain Jamie Benn rammed over goaltender Scott Wedgewood. The Avalanche failed to capitalize on their initial power play. But it set them up to get to strike later. The bittersweet homecoming of Mikko Rantanen became very bitter only a couple of minutes after that. As Devon Toews tried to clear the puck, it hit the official’s feet and Rantanen took advantage. He stole the puck away from Toews, centering it for Roope Hintz, then Jason Robertson for a Dallas lead.

With eight minutes remaining, Benn made a critical error. Benn received a double-minor for high-sticking Ryan Lindgren, setting up a four minutes of power play for the Avalanche. The Second unit would be the one to strike with one minute and 24 seconds left in the opportunity. Jonathan Drouin handled the puck at the half wall and sent a hard pass to Cale Makar. He took a shot and Martin Necas redirected the shot past Jake Oettinger to tie it at one goal each.

Second Period

The quick pace of the game continued right on into the second period. The middle frame started with a very questionable goaltender interference on Parker Kelly against Oettinger. Dallas got nothing setup, but the Avalanche came back with momentum. Just under seven minutes into the period, Toews carried the puck into the Dallas zone on the far side. He made a cross-ice pass to Valeri Nichushkin in the right circle, who whipped a shot into the net for a 2–1 lead.

The Avalanche would not stop with the relentless pressure on the Stars. Dallas failed to get anything going through the entire middle frame. With just under three minutes remaining in the period, Sam Malinski brought the Colorado offense up a step. Malinski carried the puck into the Dallas zone and attempted a slap shot, but his stick shattered. Drouin picked up the loose puck and played pass with Makar on the blue line, setting a one timer shot for Drouin on the goal. The period ended with a 3–1 lead for the Avalanche.

Third Period and Overtime

Colorado would dominate the defensive game through most of the third period. Then, in the final six minutes, Dallas pushed the play towards the Avalanche net. Wedgewood was doing everything could, but it was not enough as Dallas broke through. Wyatt Johnston and Benn threw shots on the net to send Wedgewood scrambling and Mavrik Bourque picked up the garbage.

Twenty seconds later, Samuel Girard made what appeared to be a massive mistake. A shot got redirected right to Girard’s stick and he could not clear it out of the zone. Esa Lindell took the shot and former Avalanche Matt Duchene stuffed the rebound home to tie the game at three goals apiece.

The overtime period would not last too long. Necas won the vital draw to get the puck back to Nathan MacKinnon. The Canadian dropped the puck for Makar and he dribbled through two defensemen in the Dallas zone. Makar took a shot, forcing Oettinger to the right and the shot to the left and into the net just 34 seconds into the OT frame.

Observations from the Mountaintop

The Avalanche started the game by throwing everything they could at the Dallas net. It seemed to have gotten them off balance other than Robertson’s goal to start the game. Dallas wanted to play the physical game, and the Avalanche did not let that bother them one bit. Instead, Colorado made them pay for it with pucks in the net and points in the standings. Colorado staying out of the penalty box compared to the Stars helped themselves a lot in the game. They kept up the momentum through the game and that counted in the end.

Next Game

The Avalanche start a three game Canadian road trip with the Toronto Maple Leafs on Wednesday. The game will start at 5 p.m. MT and be available on TNT and streaming on MAX.