Dallas takes down Colorado in OT to even series

Matt Duchene of the Dallas Stars and Martin Necas of the Avalanche battle for the puck in the first period of Game 2 on Monday in Dallas. PHOTOS BY RICHARD RODRIGUEZ — GETTY IMAGES

Colin Blackwell of the Dallas Stars shoots against Mackenzie Blackwood of the Avalanche in the first period of Game 2 on Monday in Dallas.

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By Corey Masisak

cmasisak@denverpost.com

DALLAS >> The Colorado Avalanche had a chance to take complete control of this series. That chance slipped away into the Texas night.

Colin Blackwell, who didn’t play in Game 1, scored with 2:14 left in overtime of Game 2 of this Stanley Cup Playoffs first-round series to give the Dallas Stars a 4-3 victory on Monday night inside American Airlines Center. Game 3 is Wednesday night at Ball Arena.

Evegenii Dadonov tied this contest at 3-3 midway through the third period. After the Avs failed to get the puck out of their zone, Wyatt Johnston put it on net from near the left point and Dadonov found the rebound before Mackenzie Blackwood did.

Logan O’Connor scored one of the goals of his life to put Colorado in front late in the second period. The Avs had to kill off back-to-back penalties, including seven seconds of a 5-on-3. O’Connor took the second penalty, though he mimicked a diving motion to the nearest official on his way to the penalty box.

Nathan MacKinnon got the play started with an outlet pass to Samuel Girard. Artturi Lehkonen got it to O’Connor in the slot, and with Mason Marchment on his back, the University of Denver alum uncorked a no-look, backhand shot into the top right corner with 32.1 seconds left in the second for a 3-2 lead.

Dallas took a 2-1 lead early in the second, but O’Connor, not known as a sniper, looked more like himself while setting up Jack Drury for the tying goal. He chased down the puck in the corner to the left of Jake Oettinger from his own end, then fed Drury for a goal at 4:42, just 62 seconds after Thomas Harley had put the Stars in front.

Drury, who joined the Avalanche as part of the trade that sent Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes, scored just as the ex-Avs star tried to close out on him.MacKinnon put the Avalanche in front with his third goal of the series. He scored from the left circle at 8:48 of the opening period on the power play after Miles Wood had drawn a penalty on Dallas’ Mason Marchment.

Tyler Seguin evened the score late in the first after a slow star by the Stars. Parker Kelly grabbed Roope Hintz to prevent a 2-on-1, and then Seguin scored on a one-timer from the left circle with 53.1 seconds left in the period. Seguin missed 58 games for Dallas after having hip surgery in December, but returned for the final game of the regular season.

The Stars entered this contest on an eight-game losing streak, including the final seven regular-season contests (0-5-2). Dallas coach Peter DeBoer felt like Game 1 was his club’s best overall effort in weeks, despite the lopsided final score.

DeBoer’s troops looked more like a struggling outfit in the opening period of Game 2. Colorado dominated the first 15 minutes at even strength. The Avs created some turnovers with their forechecking pressure, but the Stars also made several unforced errors as well.

Oettinger bailed his teammates out a couple times, and the Avs weren’t able to build an advantage that the run of play might have suggested.