The Dallas Stars saw their two-game post-All-Star winning streak snapped on Sunday, February 13, getting blanked by Colorado 4-0 just two nights after a 4-3 overtime win against Winnipeg on Friday.
“They were the much better team today; there’s no question about that,” Stars Head Coach Rick Bowness said after losing to the Avalanche. “But the biggest thing we have to change between now and Tuesday at 7 o’clock is our attitude.”
On Tuesday, the Stars will get a chance to avenge their loss when they travel to Colorado, where the teams will face off for the second time in three days.
Bowness said the Stars gave Colorado “way too much respect early” and failed to play with aggressiveness, adding that “when we’re tiptoeing around and watching them play, we’re not [playing], and that was the difference in the game.”
Colorado extended their winning streak to 19 games with their victory over the Stars at American Airlines Center on Sunday. The Avalanche (34-8-4) have not lost in regulation since a 5-2 loss to the Nashville Predators on December 16.
Darcy Kuemper made 23 saves in net for the Avalanche, Gabriel Landeskog scored twice, Cale Makar had two assists, and Nathan MacKinnon had one.
The loss drops Dallas to 25-9-2, good for 52 points, as the hockey season moves into its second half.
Dallas’ Braden Holtby got his first start since late January, and though he made 26 saves, his record on the season drops to 9-10-1.
The shutout loss to Colorado came two days after the Stars blew a late third period lead against Winnipeg on January 11 before eking out a victory on an overtime goal from Jason Robertson (20) for point number 44 this season.
The overtime goal followed a steal by Hintz deep inside Winnipeg’s blue line. Hintz passed to Klingberg, who glided backward toward the Jet’s redline before spinning and hitting Robertson with a pass. Robertson zapped a blocked shot and then collected the loose puck and swiped it over the goal line, winning in overtime for the Stars.
“Every win from here on out is big for this group,” Stars captain Jamie Benn said following the win. “We need to catch a lot of teams in front of us and try to separate ourselves from teams below us.”
Before Robertson’s goal, Dallas had goals from Jacob Peterson (9), Tyler Seguin (15), and Benn (12.)
The Stars’ 23-year-old goalie Jake Oettinger stopped 31-of-34 shots on the evening and ran his personal record to 13-5-0 in 2021-22.
The Stars will next take the ice in Colorado on Tuesday night at the Ball Arena. The season series with the Avalanche are tied 1-1, as the Stars won 3-1 in late November before the loss on Saturday night. Dallas will enter the contest with a record of 7-3-0 in their last ten games, while Colorado is 9-0-1 in that same stretch.
