National Hockey League
Colorado 6, Dallas 4
When: 9:00 PM ET, Saturday, December 15, 2018
Where: Pepsi Center, Denver, Colorado
Referees: Reid Anderson, Dan O'Halloran
Linesmen: Ryan Gibbons, Brian Mach
Attendance: 17626

Gabriel Landeskog scored on a blast from the right point with 3:20 to play for his second goal of the game, and Mikko Rantanan tallied twice on the power play as the Colorado Avalanche skated past the Dallas Stars 6-4 on Saturday at Denver to snap a three-game losing streak.

Nathan MacKinnon had three assists and an empty-net goal with 1:23 remaining for Colorado.

Rantanen's first goal extended his point streak to 14 straight games. He has 27 points (eight goals, 19 assists) during the streak.

Dallas lost its fourth straight game.

Landeskog got the scoring started for the Avalanche at the 5:45 mark of the first period, holding the puck in the right circle before firing a wrister past Dallas goaltender Anton Khudobin for a power-play goal. Tyson Barrie and MacKinnon had assists on the tally.

Colorado added to the lead just over two minutes later when Matt Nieto stole the puck and passed it to Matt Calvert, who faked Khudobin to the ice before sliding in the goal.

Rantanen pushed the Avalanche's lead to 3-0 with 15 seconds to play in the opening period, again utilizing a Dallas turnover and a steal by MacKinnon to set the table for a rocket shot over Khudobin's right shoulder.

Dallas got back one of the goals when Esa Lindell collected the pass from Mattias Janmark and fired a wrist shot through the legs of Colorado netminder Semyon Varlamov for the short-handed goal at the 8:36 mark of the second period. Taylor Fedun also got an assist on the score.

The Stars crept to within 3-2 just 44 seconds later as Tyler Seguin intercepted an attempted clearing pass and roared in on Varlamov, who stopped the Dallas winger's first shot but was flat on the ice and could do nothing about the rebound, which Seguin lifted into the net.

Rantanen scored again with 5:07 to play in the second period, waiting in the right circle for a cross-crease pass from MacKinnon before unleashing a ripping shot past Dallas goalie Ben Bishop, who had replaced Khudobin at the start of the period. J.T Compher also got an assist on the goal.

Seguin pulled Dallas back to within a goal with 6:46 to play when he one-timed a pass from Fedun past Varlamov on the power play after a pass from Alexander Radulov.

Jamie Benn tied the match with 4:36 remaining in regulation when he gathered up the rebound of a Seguin shot and pushed the puck under Varlamov and across the goal line. Radulov got an assist on the goal as well.

The Avalanche clinched the game with goals by Landeskog and MacKinnon in the final 3 minutes.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Dallas   Colorado
Tyler Seguin 3 Points Nathan MacKinnon 4
Tyler Seguin 2 Goals Mikko Rantanen 2
Taylor Fedun 2 Assists Nathan MacKinnon 3
Tyler Seguin 1 Power Play Goals Mikko Rantanen 2
Esa Lindell 1 Short Handed Goals N/A
Ben Bishop .875 Save Percentage Semyon Varlamov .905
Anton Khudobin 17 Saves Semyon Varlamov 38
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Dallas 42 4 1-3 4-7 14 42
Colorado 37 6 3-7 2-3 6 44
Upcoming Games
  • Colorado will play their next game at home against NY Islanders. The Avalanche have a W/L % of .556 after a win and .533 after a loss.
  • Dallas will play their next game at home against Calgary. The Stars have a W/L % of .500 after a win and .471 after a loss.