Gabriel Landeskog scores, Avalanche dominate Stars in Game 4

Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog did something insanely special on Saturday night.

He scored his first NHL goal in nearly three years.

And that tally along with a dominant effort from the Avs led to a monster Game 4 win in their Round 1 series with the Dallas Stars.

A 4-0 victory has this thing knotted two games apiece, and Colorado will head to Dallas on Monday night for Game 5 looking to regain the lead in the best-of-seven showdown.

Landeskog’s goal was the exclamation point on a fantastic second period in which the Avalanche outshot the Stars 22-5. If it weren’t for Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger, the lead could’ve easily been 5-0 or more. But the captain helped Colorado build on a very good first period, making it 3-0 with a snipe off a beautiful pass from Brock Nelson.

40 minutes was all Oettinger played in this one, as Stars head coach Peter DeBoer replaced him with Casey DeSmith to start the third period. It likely wasn’t performance based, as Oettinger actually kept Dallas somewhat in the game.

Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard added a goal in that frame, one in which Landeskog created all kinds of traffic in front of DeSmith. And that wrapped things up.

Meanwhile, after the Landeskog score was announced, Ball Arena broke out in “Landy” chants multiple times. It was as loud as you’ll ever hear the building after a non-OT winning goal.

Loud “Landy” chants after the goal is announced. Place is still electric. Most amped I’ve ever seen for a non-OT playoff winner. pic.twitter.com/gOVRznLBGu

— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) April 27, 2025

The Avalanche came out much faster in Game 3 than in Game 4. And Logan O’Connor, the master of shorthanded goals, gave Colorado a 1-0 lead about 12:30 into the contest.

After Devon Toews took a delay of game penalty, O’Connor was out there on the kill like usual. And he brilliantly pushed a Stars player off the puck, took it the length of the ice and beat Oettinger clean. It was O’Connor’s fifth point in the young playoffs.

And for the fourth straight game of the series, the Avalanche scored the first goal. The key, of course, was turning that into a victory after dropping Games 2 and 3 in heartbreaking fashion in OT. That’s exactly what they did.

Things looked good when Colorado got an insurance goal that eluded them on Wednesday night. After Stars forward Mason Marchment elbowed Cale Makar in the head, Nathan MacKinnon made the Stars pay on the power play. He ripped a dart past Oettinger with 23.4 seconds to go in the first, and the Avs headed to the break up 2-0.

They never looked back from there. Landeskog did what he did, Avalanche goalie Mackenzie Blackwood made 23 saves in net and whoever wins two of the next three games will move on to Round 2 in the Western Conference playoffs.

Also, Colorado had lost four straight home playoff games to Dallas dating back to last season, so the final outcome was a monkey off their back.

Landeskog scoring is an awesome achievement. What he’d like even more is a second Stanley Cup in the last four years. Getting past the Stars would be a massive step in that journey, and the Avalanche won a Game 4 they simply had to have.

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