Cale Makar shook off a puck to the skate to score twice, Artturi Lehkonen had two goals and two assists to tie a career high for points, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Dallas Stars 6-3 in Denver on Saturday.
Jonathan Drouin and Casey Mittelstadt each had a goal and two assists, Josh Manson had two assists and Scott Wedgewood turned away 26 shots for Colorado.
Makar and Drouin each scored their 100th career goals in the victory.
The Avalanche got a scare when Matej Blumel’s shot went off Makar’s left skate with 4:02 left in the second period. He limped off the ice and was helped back to the locker room, where he stayed for the rest of the period. He returned for the third.
Jason Robertson had two goals and an assist, Matt Duchene had a goal and an assist, Wyatt Johnson had three assists and Casey DeSmith had 30 saves for Dallas.
The Stars took a 1-0 lead when Duchene scored on the power play 3:24 into the game. That was the only shot on goal for Dallas through the first 16 minutes.
Colorado tied it nearly 10 minutes later when Mittelstadt beat DeSmith at 13:07, just his second goal since Nov. 18th.
Makar scored his 100th career goal at 10:31 of the second to break the Avalanche’s 0-for-23 stretch on the power play, and less than 90 seconds later Lehkonen scored his first of the game on a wrister at 11:56.
Four minutes later Blumel appeared to score but the Avalanche successfully challenged for offsides, and Drouin scored at 18:30 to make it 4-1.
Lehkonen’s second of the game at 8:13 into the third made it a four-goal game but Dallas mounted a comeback.
Robertson banked his first goal off of Wedgewood’s pads at 11:08 and got his second on the power play 39 seconds later. The Stars continued to press for a goal but Makar’s second tally of the game, at 13:13, gave Colorado a cushion.
–Field Level Media
