Controversial or not, Lindell's goal fueled by 'pure determination'

Some of the Colorado Avalanche players still are convinced that Stars defenseman Esa Lindell didn't score late in the second period of a 5-2 Dallas win Monday night in the Edmonton bubble.
Officials disagreed.

MIKE HEIKA: [Special teams helps deliver another special win for Stars]
Whatever the result, the play was typical Lindell. The 26-year-old defenseman was killing a penalty (he logged 7:39 on the kill in Game 2) and outraced Joonas Donskoi to a loose puck along the left boards. Lindell muscled around Donskoi to break in on goalie Pavel Fracouz. Lindell put a shot on net and then powered two rebounds at Francouz with officials deciding the puck slipped under the goalie's pads and across the goal line.
"Effort, just pure passion and effort," Stars interim coach Rick Bowness said when asked what he thought of Lindell's goal. "He just was not going to be denied. It would have been easy for him to just chip the puck in and change, but he saw an opening and he took advantage of it. That was pure determination on that goal."

Colorado saw it a different way. The play was called a good goal on the ice, meaning there had to be evidence to overturn it on replay. The Avalanche contended the puck did not go completely over the goal line.
Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog said he felt referee Dan O'Rourke might have been too quick to call it a goal because he saw Lindell celebrate.
"Dan is behind the net on the other side, I don't know how he sees that the puck is across the line," Landeskog said. "I don't know how he points at the net. I think he realized pretty quickly that he messed up. Once he starts watching the video replay, I think he realizes that he just went off of Esa Lindell's reaction and pointed to the net. Can't return it if there is no evidence."
Lindell contended there was no evidence to the contrary because the puck did cross the goal line.

"Yeah," Lindell said when asked if he could see the puck go in. "I think the second whack was already in, and then I gave one more to be sure."
It was a great effort and a great read by Lindell. He had Mattias Janmark with him on a 2-on-1, but decided to simply drive the net and power in the puck. It was a huge point in the game, as Dallas finished off a second period in which it scored four goals and tallied the final marker in the final minute. It also gave Dallas the breathing room to take the air out of the game in the third period.
"I don't really have the hands to sauce the puck over there, so I just thought 'I'm going shoot it' and the pre-scout said five-hole is a good spot," Lindell said. "So I shot it there and went for the rebound."
It was the kind of play Lindell, who is known more for his defensive play, has pulled off a few times this season.

"There's been a few plays where he takes off, he can skate, and he's strong, he's powerful," forward Joe Pavelski said. "I usually have a nice view from behind when he takes off. Right there, I was kind of coming in, but I think he made a great play. The D kind of took an option away as far as making a play quick, he threw it there and a little luck that rebound hangs there. Good on him to stop there and keep banging away at it."
Colorado coach Jared Bednar said how a team reacts to moments like that are key in a series.
"Maybe it's a mistake, maybe it's not. I have no idea," Bednar said of the call. "My goal is to make sure that our team is responding after goals against or a bad bounce here and there and instill that we have this belief that we can bounce back from things that are thrown at us. Our resolve just wasn't where it needed to be after a bad break, a bad penalty.
"The game is not over. We have to be better. This time of year, we have to expect more from each other."

Khudobin strong again, stopping 38 shots

Stars goalie Anton Khudobin had not started a playoff game before this year. He now is 6-3-0 with a 2.49 goals against average and .921 save percentage. He has won five straight starts.
Asked if by playing all of the time, he is getting better, Khudobin quipped: "You pretty much answer the question."
"Yes, when I play more, I feel better," Khudobin said. "It's a different scenario right now, playing kind of every other day, but at the same time it's the playoffs. You can't think about it, you just have to prepare and go play. And, yes, I feel better than the first couple of games."

Khudobin made 19 saves in the first period while Dallas struggled with a hungry Colorado team. Pavelski said Khudobin's play early was the key to the game.
"He made some big saves and we knew that was going to be one of the better pushes they were going to have," Pavelski said. "When they push, sometimes you've got to hold on at times. We had to get our game going. We had to get emotionally involved, physically involved.
"It was up to us to kind of catch up, and Dobby did a good job of finding us some extra time to not let this game get out of hand."

Quick hits

Game 3: Stars vs. Avalanche (Dallas leads 2-0)

Wednesday, 9:30 p.m.
Where: Rogers Place, Edmonton
TV:NBCSN
Radio:The Ticket 96.7-FM, 1310-AM
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Mike Heikais a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on Twitter @MikeHeika, and listen to his podcast.