Clash of Clashes

I'll be honest, I had long been over last year. How the Colorado Avalanche showed out in the playoffs, only to be cheated by referees who decided to allow Dallas' dirty hits while putting us in the box for simply breathing. How the Stars had a coach who continued to bully refs into ignoring their dirty plays, and who would bitch and moan when a game was fairly officiated and rightful calls went against the Stars. How for every one power play the Avs had in that series, the Stars had about six. And how Mikko Rantanen delivered the ultimate humiliation with a Game Seven hat trick.

A good start will do that. The Avs are two-for-two in this young season; a much better start than last year. Game 3 saw us host the Dallas Stars; the first meeting of the season, and the first Division Rivalry game of the year for the Avs--who rock the thirds for those games. Scott Wedgewood was in net against Jake Oettinger, and the Avs dominated in shots mainly because we had quite a bit of PP time. Despite the domination in shots, it was Dallas who struck first. Thomas Harley made it 1-0 with barely over a minute left in the first period; the first time that our opponent scored first this season, and the first time we trailed all season.

1-0 Dallas after 20, and we get another PP because Rantanen committed high-sticking on Makar. That was killed off, but Martin Necas tied it up later. He's on a roll; third goal of the season already for Necas! Nathan MacKinnon and Sam Malinski assisted. Avs pressed for the lead, as did Dallas, as their shots started piling up. At the heart of the 2nd, Gavin Brindley puts it in for the first time in his career, with Victor Olofsson assisting. Avs took the lead, but five minutes later, Nathan Bastian ties it up, and three minutes after that, Jason Robertson gives Dallas the lead.

3-2 Dallas after 40, but within the first minute of the third, MacKinnon's shot goes off the stick of Artturi Lehkonen, and goes in. Tie game just like that!! However, we had barely over a minute to enjoy it. Wyatt Johnston breaks way and puts it in. We're behind again. Later on, Avs are on the power play, a double minor, meaning we could score twice on it, at most. The first two minutes are knocked off, but the latter two aren't. Who else? Nathan MacKinnon! Tie game, assists came from Necas and Brent Burns, the latter playing his 1500th game and picking up his first point with us. Both sides looked for that go-ahead goal, but the game ended up going to overtime.

First OT for both teams this year, and it was mostly quiet. The only big noise was Necas' attempt being stolen by Oettinger in the period, which ended with nothing settled. Shootout commenced, and Robertson put it in during the first round, Valeri Nichushkin ties it in the second round, but in the third, Mikko Rantanen puts in the decider, because of course it's Rantanen.

Tough loss for the boys, but at least it's a point. Even so, this is a much better start than last year. Last year, we were injured all to hell and lost our first four games. This year, we're 2-0-1, with five points out of a maximum six. MacKinnon and Necas are on huge rolls to start the season. Hopefully, Landeskog will start putting up points, and I think he'll go on a tear. Makar is doing Makar things. It's only three games into the season.. Still 79 of these things to go.

Next up, the Avs shuffle off to Buffalo for a matinee game against the Sabres on Monday, and Thursday will see us in Columbus against the Blue Jackets.

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