The Avalanche smother the Stars

Necas strikes twice as Colorado settles a grudge

A grudge on qualification night

A year earlier, the Dallas Stars snuffed the Colorado Avalanche on qualification night, 5-4. This October the Avalanche came back to American Airlines Center facing the same hard rule: lose, and the flame goes dark before the first round is even over. Colorado had finished 1st of 32 last season and Dallas 3rd. Each club has shared the Gauntlet once. One of them was leaving the shelf on night one.

Fists, then Necas

Artturi Lehkonen struck first with a backhand at 11:32 of the first, set up by Nathan MacKinnon and Josh Manson. Then the gloves came off. At 17:44 Fedor Svechkov fought Radek Faksa, and Svechkov also drew an instigator minor and a 10-minute misconduct. Dallas made him pay: Tyler Seguin snapped home a power-play goal at 19:06 to tie it.

Martin Necas restored the lead with a slapshot at 3:05 of the second. At 6:46 MacKinnon and Roope Hintz dropped the gloves too. With Faksa off for tripping, Necas struck again at 16:14, a power-play snap shot from Gabriel Landeskog and Devon Toews that held up as the winner.

Blackwood holds the line

Hintz cut the gap to one at 3:17 of the third, a snap shot set up by Seguin and Miro Heiskanen. Dallas never scored again. Mackenzie Blackwood finished with 24 saves on 26 shots, and the Stars' flame went cold. The Avalanche burn on, one of 20 candles still lit.