But it was Khudobin that made the important saves that prevented theDespite another explosive effort from the scoring leader of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Stars interrupted the latest edition of the Nathan MacKinnon Show with a 5-2 triumph over the Avalanche on Monday night to take a 2-0 lead in this best-of-seven series.
The ice was tilted significantly, as MacKinnon and linemate Mikko Rantanen each delivered a goal and an assist as Colorado scored twice with the man advantage. Since the Stars realize it’s going to be nearly impossible to contain MacKinnon, there was pressure on the top unit of Tyler Seguin, Benn and Radulov to counter – and so far, they’ve delivered.
Lindell’s second effort at it was enough for him to raise his arms in celebration and the play was ruled a goal on the ice.Lindell was a force throughout the contest and the insurance marker was a just reward according to his head coach. That’s a great approach to take, but there was no doubt the Stars got a massive boost in taking the two-goal lead, while the Avalanche sagged and had trouble snapping out of it.
With his team already reeling a bit, the prospect of incurring a delay-of-game minor had the challenge not been successful would have been a risky proposition. One of the obvious storylines going into the contest surrounded Francouz, who has been forced into action after Philipp Grubauer suffered a lower-body injury in Game 1 of this series and is out indefinitely.
“For us, it’s a seven-game series for a reason,” Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog said. “We feel like, more than anything, we’re in this thing. We’ve been up 2-0 before and we know how quick it can turn — and all of a sudden, it’s a tied series.It’s easy to forget the Stars have played most of these first two rounds without starting goalie Ben Bishop, who has been limited to two starts and hasn’t played since Game 2 against the Calgary Flames due to an injury.
WiebesWorld Do an historical check on Bishop. This guy is hurt every single time he's needed during an important stretch. Most unreliable goalie ever.
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