DALLAS — Mackenzie Blackwood spent six years in the NHL without the chance to experience playoff hockey.
He was more than ready to make a great first impression.
Blackwood stopped 23 shots in his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut, helping the Colorado Avalanche to a 5-1 victory in Game 1 of its opening-round series Saturday night against the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center. Nathan MacKinnon scored twice and added an assist, and for the second year in a row, the Avs have a 1-0 series lead against the Stars.
This game was close until the Avs poured in three goals in the final 7:04. And while the visiting team looked stout defensively for long stretches, the Avalanche still needed its goaltender to make several fantastic saves.
After scoring 27 goals in his first 53 games, Artturi Lehkonen couldn’t buy one in the final 16 games of the regular season. He opened the scoring in Game 1 for the Avalanche with one of the oddest goals of his career.
Lehkonen shot the puck from near the top of the left circle. As he darted toward the net after the rebound, he and Mavrik Borque got tangled up, and Lehkonen’s leg curled one into the top corner as he fell to the ice that would have made Lionel Messi proud.
There was an official review, but the goal stood, and the Avalanche led at 9:30 of the second period.
“We need to get to the interior of the ice more in their defensive zone and cause some havoc in front of (Jake) Oettinger,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said before the game.
That was certainly some havoc.
Colorado’s first big chance on the power play was a dud, but Roope Hintz went to the box for bloodying Nathan MacKinnon with a high stick behind the Avs’ net late in the second. MacKinnon made this one hurt.
His shot from the left circle deflected off Dallas defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin and fluttered past Jake Oettinger to make it a 2-0 lead with 3:22 remaining in the period.
Related Articles
Avalanche Journal: Colorado’s path to a title looks much tougher than 2022 After season of injury adversity, Avalanche is healthier team in showdown with Stars Avalanche’s new reality is here, with playoff star Mikko Rantanen playing for the other guys How ‘unprecedented’ roster turnover reshaped Avalanche for another Stanley Cup run Renck: Is Avalanche goalie Mackenzie Blackwood ready to meet playoff moment? Stanley Cup run hinges on it.Cale Makar’s assist on MacKinnon’s goal was his 60th in 73 career playoff games. He’s the third-fastest defenseman to 60 playoff assists, behind only Bobby Orr (69) and Al MacInnis (71).
The first big break of the series came less than five minutes for the Avalanche. Makar drew a pair of tripping penalties 36 seconds apart to give Colorado a lengthy two-man advantage. The Avs generated very little, and the green-clad patrons roared to life after a sleepy opening four minutes for the Stars.
This was the first playoff appearance of Mackenzie Blackwood’s NHL career, and his first save was a big one, turning aside a Roope Hintz offering after the speedy Finn got free during a rush. Blackwood’s best work came during Dallas’ lone power play of the first period, as he turned aside five shots in those two minutes. The Stars had only three in the other 18 minutes.
FOOTNOTES: Avs captain Gabe Landeskog participated in the morning skate but did not play in Game 1. He has been practicing with the team since Tuesday after playing in back-to-back AHL games with the Colorado Eagles this past weekend. Those were his first hockey games since June 26, 2022.
Want more Avalanche news? Sign up for the Avalanche Insider to get all our NHL analysis.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Mackenzie Blackwood stars in playoff debut, Avalanche bests Stars in Game 1 )
Also on site :