Avalanche defeat Stars in shootout for third straight win

DALLAS --The Colorado Avalanche blew a late lead but recovered for their third straight win, 3-2 in a shootout against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center on Monday.

Jason Robertson tied it 2-2 for Dallas with 26 seconds remaining in the third period on a shot from the bottom of the right face-off circle.
"We shouldn't have given up that extra point, that's my fault on that one," Colorado defenseman Cale Makar said. "Just bad coverage read, and then right off my stick far-side. That game should have been ended in regulation. I feel like we outplayed them for most of the night, gave them a couple of chances, but overall, I feel like we minimized it as a group."
Makar and Alex Newhook scored, and Alexandar Georgiev made 22 saves for the Avalanche (11-5-1), who swept a three-game road trip and have won seven of their past eight games. Mikko Rantanen had the only goal in the shootout.
"It's huge for us, huge," Newhook said. "Obviously a time where we're trying to build and missing a lot of guys in our lineup. But guys are stepping up, and to get six points on a trip where we're playing three pretty good teams, that's huge for us."

The Avalanche defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in overtime on Thursday and the Washington Capitals 4-0 on Saturday. They were playing without forwards
Gabriel Landeskog
(knee surgery), Darren Helm (lower body),
Shane Bowers
(upper body), and Valeri Nichushkin (ankle surgery), and defensemen Bowen Byram (lower body), Kurtis MacDermid (lower body) and Samuel Girard (lower body).
Robertson scored twice to extend his point streak to 12 games (12 goals, 10 assists), matching a career high, and Jake Oettinger made 33 saves for the Stars (11-5-3), who extended their point streak to five games (3-0-2).
"Disappointed we couldn't get the second point for him," Robertson said of Oettinger. "He kept us in it. He brought it all the way to a shootout, so it gives us both a chance to win, we just didn't score in it. We still got a big point because of him, and we wouldn't have gotten it without him."

Newhook gave Colorado a 2-1 lead at 2:06 of the third when he put in a rebound from the top of the crease.
Robertson tied it 1-1 at 5:33 of the second period, jamming in a rebound as he was falling down from a cross-check by Avalanche defenseman Andreas Englund and the net was knocked off its moorings. The goal was reviewed, and it was determined the puck completely crossed the goal line before the net became displaced.
"I thought through 40 minutes, pretty good game," Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. "Really even, both teams had chances. They kind of grabbed momentum there in the third, we made a few mistakes, obviously took some penalties. But found a way to get a point, so I guess that's a silver lining. Always a good point when you're playing the (defending) Stanley Cup champion."

Makar gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead on a power play at 10:10 of the first period with a one-timer into the top corner.
"They're the Stanley Cup champs, so it's a good measuring stick for us," Oettinger said. "We don't think we played our best game tonight, but obviously, to be that close still is a good thing, and now we have another opportunity to play them again [Saturday in Colorado]."
NOTES:Makar has 200 points (53 goals, 147 assists) in 195 NHL games to become the fastest defenseman in League history to reach the mark, surpassing Hall of Fame defenseman Sergei Zubov (207 games). ... Colorado forward Artturi Lehkonen had an assist to extend his career-high point streak to seven games (four goals, four assists). … Englund had an assist for his first point with the Avalanche in four games after signing a one-year contract July 13.