Stars beat Avalanche by 2OT victory in Game 6. Stars get to West Final

Duchene scores at 11:42, Oettinger makes 29 saves for Dallas

By Ryan Boulding

May 18, 2024 08:46 AM

Mikko Rantanen scored, and Georgiev made 36 saves for the Avalanche, who were the No. 3 seed from the Central.

“It was tiring, there’s no question,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “You will see our energy level decrease as the hours went on However, our players were extremely hard-working. They played with determination every shift and were very defensive.

“They’re a great team. They’re disciplined. They’re deep. They’ve got great goalie skills and they’re well-coached. They had everything one could ask for on the team. They’re considered a contender in my opinion. It [stinks]. You put a lot into the season as a team and then you fall short. It’s not a great feeling.”

Rantanen provided the Avalanche an 1-0 lead at 5:48 of the 2nd period, on the power play, putting the short side of a wrist shot over Oettinger’s shoulder. Oettinger from just below in the circle to his right.

“It’s one of those you feel you played well enough to win the game and force a Game 7, just didn’t happen,” Zach Parise stated. “Just a little bit of shock when it ends suddenly like that. it takes some time to process everything, but just tough way to end.”

Benn made it a 1-1 tie at 1:56 in the third. He was hit by a pass behind the back by Evgenii Dadonov with ease, and he slid his stick past an elongated Georgiev before scoring via a backhand that went into the net.

“We’ve played with the lead a lot this series, and then we got tested here a little bit being down,” Pavelski stated. “I think that the second period was not a great one for us and we were impatient when it came to getting pucks on the floor and what we could create. I believe that in the third period and in the overtimes, we made a commitment to taking it in the right manner. We tied the game together with our forecheck and created an O-zone.

“Just an amazing play by Tyler Seguin and Dadonovand Bennto win us that chip. It was a straightforward chip that drove through the middle. Dadonov makes a fantastic play and [Benn] closes the chip. It was an important moment for us. It was clear that the legs were getting ready for everyone.”

NOTES Duchene is the fourth Stars/Minnesota Northern Stars in history to net the game-winning goal in a match which required multiple overtimes together with Brenden Morrow (fourth overtime in Game 6 of 2008’s Western Conference Semi-Final versus the San Jose Sharks), Brett Hull (third overtime in Game 6 from the 1999 Stanley Cup Final at the Buffalo Sabres) and Joe Nieuwendyk (third overtime in Game 4 of the 1999 Western Conference Quarter-Final in Edmonton). …. DeBoer won his 17th win in a series, and is second-highest total among active head coaches. He is the only coach with more wins. Jon Cooper (18) has more.