Colorado, the No. 2 seed in the West, scored four of its five first-period goals in a span of 2:36, one second shy of tying the NHL playoff record for fastest four goals (Montreal Canadiens, Game 5 of 1944 Semifinals against Toronto Maple Leafs).
"We knew that we had to show our best self," Avalanche forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare said. "We were not happy about the way we started the game last game (trailed 3-0 after first period in a 5-4 loss in Game 4). And we knew the situation. … We decided to show the best version of ourselves tonight, in the start at least."
Hutchinson made three saves in relief of Pavel Francouz in a 5-4 loss in Game 4 on Sunday in his NHL playoff debut. Francouz and Philipp Grubauer each was unfit to play Game 5.
"It was exciting," Hutchinson said. "I've had a pretty long career so far, and this was my first playoff start. When you get that news, first thing on my mind was excitement. It's what you work for when you're a kid, you dream about it]*
Ben Bishop allowed four goals on 19 shots and was pulled 13:43 into the first period for Dallas, the No. 3 seed.
"I had an opportunity tonight to close the door," Bishop said. "You knew they were going to have a push, obviously. Their season is on the line. I'll take blame. I've got to be better. The guys have been playing hard all series, and you've got to come up with a save there. No matter what the circumstances are, I've been in this situation before and you know they're going to throw everything at you."
It was Bishop's first game since Aug. 13, Game 2 of the first round against the Calgary Flames. Anton Khudobin, who started the previous eight games, made 20 saves in relief.
Bellemare gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 4:37 of the first, and Andre Burakovsky made it 2-0 at 11:51.
"Bishop hasn't played for a bit of time, so we kind of knew that we had to send a lot of pucks in, make him work early here, and we came out really strong," Burakovsky said. "We were shooting a lot of pucks, we were going to the net and making it tough for him. A tough spot for him to not be able to play for a while and come in and face all those shots, so I think we did a good job there."
Nathan MacKinnon made it 3-0 at 12:32. He has scored at least one point in all 13 Colorado games this postseason (eight goals, 15 assists).
Nazem Kadri scored 61 seconds later for a 4-0 lead at 13:43, and Mikko Rantanen made it 5-0 at 14:27.
The Avalanche outshot the Stars 23-5 in the first period.
"We just clearly weren't ready to play," Dallas coach Rick Bowness said. "We weren't ready to compete. Again, point your fingers at me and work your way down. Nobody was ready. To defend against that team, it takes hard work. We got outworked. There's no sugarcoating it. It was clear what was going on. We got outworked, we got outhustled, and it starts with being ready to play. We weren't."
