The first match between Dallas and Colorado was a sight to behold: it seemed like the hosts had decided the outcome in the first period, but the guests did not give up, managed to equalize, and then won in overtime. Peter DeBoer certainly pointed out to his team that such slip-ups should not happen in the playoffs. Let’s see how his team heeded his advice.
The main events started already in the second period, after the first period Dallas led 1:0. Just in the second minute of the period, Roope Hintz, who has been criticized for his playoff performance, completed a three-pass play for Dallas. This play could confidently be included in all hockey encyclopedias. The guests couldn’t wake up throughout the second period, while the hosts were increasingly pressuring, practically camping in Georgiev’s zone.
The Russian goalie held on, but he’s not omnipotent—a ricochet off a shot from Heiskanen was beyond his control. Towards the end of the period, Colorado gained a power play, but instead of narrowing the gap, they conceded another goal. Tyler Seguin scored the first goal in the current series. Nothing indicated that Colorado could repeat the success from two days ago, but that was just a smokescreen. Although Dallas did not just sit back in defense and continued to play actively, by the eighth minute of the period the guests had already recovered two goals. Particularly striking was the goal by Dewar,
who first blocked a shot in his zone, lost his stick, grabbed a new one, drove into the slot, and scored. The highlight of the day was found. And at the 57th minute, it was Nichushkin’s time. Valeri was screening Oettinger, Lehkonen shot at the goal, and hit the leg of the Russian forward. Dallas won this tough match, barely avoiding the same pitfalls as in the first meeting. And what about Nichushkin? Valeri distinguished himself in the seventh consecutive game, caught up with Zack Hyman in the sniper race and equaled the NHL record previously solely held by Pat LaFontaine—seven consecutive games with goals from the start of the playoffs.