Gabriel Landeskog: Penalties against the Avalanche in Game 5 were “preseason” calls

The Colorado Avalanche came out of the gate sleepwalking in Monday's Game 5, but the officiating did not help the team, and captain Gabriel Landeskog had some strong words for the calls after the loss

BY TRENT FINNEGAN

Apr 29, 2025, 9:27 AM

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The Colorado Avalanche were blown out in Game 5 of the Western Conference First Round against the Dallas Stars, and were the recipient of some questionable calls from the officiating crew throughout the night. The Avalanche ended up having only one less power play than the Stars on the night, but many Avalanche fans and players were frustrated with the whistle they got.

Dallas had four power play opportunities in the 6-2 victory and converted on one of them thanks to a beautiful pass from Matt Duchene through the blue paint that set up Wyatt Johnston with a practically-empty net for the goal. Colorado only had three opportunities, and struggled mightily to get any consistency going on the man advantage, just like in Game 3.

After the game, Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog was frustrated with how weak some of the calls were against Colorado.

“A couple of those are preseason calls, I think, but regardless, we’ve got to fight through it and keep playing,” Landeskog said.

The captain was elevated to Colorado’s top power play line in Game 4, which proved to be very effective. On Monday night, all the momentum that unit had built was washed away. In the six minutes of time with a man advantage on the ice, Colorado was only able to get six shots on goal, all of which were saved by Jake Oettinger.

Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar was also confused by the calls throughout the night, especially given that it was a pivotal playoff game in which an extra sense of physicality was present for both teams.

“It’s a tough call when you’re looking at some of the physicality thats going on at and away from the puck,” Bednar said.

There were two very questionable calls against Colorado on the night, the first going against Sam Malinski in the second period and the next going against Josh Manson in the third period. The call against Malinski led to a goal that instantly grew the Stars’ lead back to two goals after the Avalanche had trimmed the deficit to one.

Malinski elbowing Steel had him like a fish out of water pic.twitter.com/toCtStEWkn

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 29, 2025

Texas hasn’t seen flopping like this since Manu Ginobili played for the Spurs. Embarrassing for the Stars, to be honest.
pic.twitter.com/UQrJn1rtj3

— Will Petersen (@PetersenWill) April 29, 2025

Meanwhile, Nathan MacKinnon was cross-checked by Roope Hintz during the game, but the star didn’t receive a call for it in his favor.

Hintz cross-checked MacKinnon and DIDN'T get a penalty pic.twitter.com/lEOL5Af3SG

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) April 29, 2025

The calls weren’t the sole reason the Avalanche lost on Monday, but they did play an important role. However, an off-night from Mackenzie Blackwood and a lack of urgency in the first period were also very important factors in putting the Avalanche in must-win mode going forward. Game 6 is slated for Thursday night at Ball Arena, with the puck drop time still to be announced.