The Avalanche stole a page from the Stars playbook to win Game 3
Aug 27, 2020, 6:35 AM
In the second-round series between the Avalanche and the Stars, the Stars have been the more physical team. And that had led to a 2-0 series lead for Dallas. That all changed in Game 3.
The Stars had a formula the first two games of the series. Be aggressive on the forecheck, don’t let the Avs get set up and hit like nobody’s business. And it was working.
In the first two games of the series, the Stars outhit the Avs, averaging 54 hits to the Avs 35. Then, Game 3 on Wednesday night rolled around. The Stars ended with 56 hits, slightly above what they had been averaging so far in the series. The Avs, on the other hand, ended with 72 hits in the game, two more than they had racked up the previous two games combined.
Game 3 was also the first game the Stars outshot the Avalanche. But it was also the first game in the series the Stars trailed for any significant amount of time, leading to more shots on goal in an attempt to catch up.
The Stars have been aggressive on the forecheck all series long, preventing the Avalanche from getting anything set up from their defensive zone. But it was the former Denver Pioneer, Logan O’Connor, making his playoff debut, who set the tone early for the Avalanche.
O’Connor was a puck hound whenever he was on the ice, always seemingly remaining within a few feet of the puck early in the game. He was the pest the Avalanche needed to keep the Stars on their heels early in the game, and as the game progressed, the Stars had very few chances with the puck in their defensive zone when there wasn’t an Avs player there making the Stars at least think twice about what they were doing.
The Avs got secondary scoring for the first time in the series, and for the first time in a while, All-World center Nathan MacKinnon was not one of the three stars of the game, though he did extend his now franchise record point streak to 11 games with two assists on the night.
The Avs got a howitzer from the big man Nikita Zadorov to open up their scoring, as well as a Nazem Kadri redirect for the game winner as the Avs keep their hopes alive. In the end, they clawed back into the series because they were willing to do what the Stars do; they were willing to do the dirty work.
