The Avalanche continue to struggle against the Central Division, this time losing 3-2 in the shootout to the Dallas Stars.
Colorado (23-12-4) has won just one game in five meetings against their division rivals in December and is just 6-7-1 overall.
After falling behind 1-0, the Avs used a late-period goal to tie the game in the first, just as they did on Friday against Minnesota. Forward J.T. Compher scored on a sequence where both of his linemates, Matt Nieto and Tyson Jost, pitched in to beat Stars goalie Ben Bishop.
Colorado jumped out to a 2-1 lead after 40 minutes but a late penalty that carried over into the third period led to a game-tying power-play goal for the home team. The teams continued to exchange chances in the third period and overtime before Dallas won 2-0 in the shootout to hand the Avs their second straight defeat.
Takeaways
The uninspiring shootout was Colorado’s first of the season. The Avs were the last team to participate in the shootout this season. They had just four of them in 2018-19, going 2-2. Forwards Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen both were denied by Bishop.
Cale Makar takes his first career penalty. That penalty at the end of the second period that led to the game-tying goal was taken by Colorado’s prized rookie Cale Makar. The former No. 4 overall pick had played in a combined 40 career games dating back to last year’s playoffs without taking a penalty.
He was called for delay of game after sending the puck over the glass in the defensive zone.
Colorado’s power play continues to struggle. After failing to capitalize on three power-play opportunities against the Stars, including 1:32 on a two-man advantage, the Avs are now 5-for-36 with the man-advantage in the past 12 games. The Stars finished 1-for-5 on the power play, giving them the goal they needed to get the game to overtime.
