Marchment gets 3 points, Stars hold off Avalanche

DALLAS -- Mason Marchment had two goals and an assist as the Dallas Stars held off the Colorado Avalanche for a 5-3 win at American Airlines Center on Friday.

“I’m having a lot of fun and just having fun working hard at the same time. I’m playing with two really good players (linemates Tyler Seguin and Matt Duchene), and we have some really good chemistry. It’s just a lot of fun to play right now,” Marchment said. “We’ve been getting our looks [on the power play], it’s just a matter of time. We have too many good players to not be scoring on the power play. Tonight was a good night and we’re going to try to build off that.”

Jamie Benn and Seguin each had a goal and an assist and Miro Heiskanen had two assists for Dallas (14-8-0), which had lost the past two games. Jake Oettinger made 29 saves.

“We knew we didn’t play great in Chicago and wanted to bounce back right away, not let too many games slip away from us,” Heiskanen said. “[Pushbacks] happen sometimes, and you have to just stick with what’s working. We didn’t think about too much after those goals; just kept playing our game. That’s the key for us, you don’t have to stop playing your game.”

Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist, Cale Makar had two assists, and Valeri Nichushkin and Artturi Lehkonen each scored for Colorado (13-11-0), which had won four of the past five games. Alexandar Georgiev made 19 saves.

Lehkonen cut the Stars' three-goal lead to 4-2 at 1:02 of the third period on a shot from the bottom of the left face-off circle that beat Oettinger five-hole. Rantanen made it 4-3 at 8:03 on a shot from the right face-off dot off a cross-ice pass from Makar, who weaved through the zone before delivering the puck to Rantanen's stick.

“That Makar to Rantanen play is unbelievable,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “We’ve got five guys, all in the right spots, and they still make that play. That’s the danger of that team, you can’t let up for a second. Even if you’re in the right spots, they’re still going to make plays through you. We did as good of a job as you can do against that group. They’re that elite that they’re going to make some of those plays.”

Seguin gave Dallas a 1-0 lead at 5:36 in the first period when he scored from the goal line off a cross-ice pass by Duchene on the power play.

“We’ve just got to find a way to improve [the penalty kill]. Don’t know exactly what is going on right now,” Makar said. “We’ve got to find a way to make a difference on the power play and the penalty kill and win the special teams battle.”

Nichushkin tied it 1-1 at 13:56 after the puck squirted loose behind Oettinger and he capitalized by tapping it in for a power-play goal.

Marchment made it 2-1 for Dallas at 14:28 when he redirected the puck after it bounced off of Georgiev’s skate in the crease.

“We were giving up some odd-man rushes, and we knew they were going to turn the puck up ice fast,” Makar said. “I felt like the legs were mostly there just we have to be sharper at times, and don’t let bounces go in the back of the net.”

Benn made it 3-1 at 7:07 in the second period on a rebound from the slot.

“They like to put a bunch of guys on the rush and they can score. They’re the hottest team in the league in the last 10 on the year in scoring goals. They’re a dangerous offense,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “We didn’t take care of the rush very well at times in the first and then again at times even in the second. Kind of cured that as the game went on, but if you give them too many high-quality chances off the rush, they’re going to capitalize.”

Roope Hintz made it 4-1 at 18:42 when Wyatt Johnston found him uncovered in the slot on the power play.

“I thought our guys played hard and had good energy and fought to the end, but the difference in the game was some of those rush chances and special teams,” Bednar said.

Marchment scored into the empty net at 17:17 in the third period for the 5-3 final.

“It was a big win. We needed a big response,” Dallas forward Sam Steel said. “I thought we played solid for most of the game. Obviously, they’re going to have a push. They have some world-class players that are going to make some big plays. We weathered it and got the two points.”

NOTES: Colorado defenseman Josh Manson sustained an upper-body injury 5:24 into the second period after a collision into the boards. He did not return to the game and Bednar had no update on his status post-game. … Rantanen scored his 11th goal of November, which is tied with Florida Panthers forward Sam Reinhart for the most in the League in that span. … Oettinger recorded his 125th career win in his 200th career start, which is tied for the fourth-most wins through 200 starts (Bill Durnan, 134; Michel Larocque, 129; Igor Shesterkin, 127; Mike Vernon and Andy Moog, 125). … Seguin, Marchment, and Duchene factored on the same goal for the ninth time this season, which is the most by any trio in the League.