The Colorado Avalanche and Dallas Stars squared off in a crucial matinee at American Airlines Center in Dallas, and it was Colorado who finally stole the first regulation win of the season series—pushing their quest for NHL and Central Division supremacy even further.
Brent Burns hit his 1,000th consecutive game, and the veteran forward-turned-defenseman logged a solid 18+ minutes on ice to help deliver the victory.
It was a low-scoring, gritty, playoff-style battle, but Martin Necas finally tucked away the game-winner midway through the third, and Nathan MacKinnon inevitably buried his career-high-tying 51st goal into the empty net. That sealed Colorado’s crisp 2-0 triumph over the Stars.
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The Game
Most of the afternoon felt like a tight-checking chess match, with both Casey DeSmith and Scott Wedgewood making timely saves to keep it locked at 0-0 through two periods. Neither side was willing to blink.
In fact, this was one of the rare games all season with zero power plays goals for either team—a likely sneak preview of the grind we’ll see once the playoffs arrive.
The breakthrough finally came when Artturi Lehkonen found Martin Necas on a slick back-door play, putting the Avalanche up 1-0.
Necas cashing in on what might be the biggest regular-season goal of the year felt like the perfect cherry on top—right before MacKinnon’s empty-netter put the game to bed for good.
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Takeaways
Coming off one of their ugliest performances of the season (probably the worst) against the Vancouver Canucks, it was huge to see the Avs respond with a complete, shut-down victory against their fiercest rival.
We called for a regulation win with a power-play goal on Friday’s Mile High Hockey Lab, but in hindsight, we should’ve just asked for the regulation W. Every other meeting between these two in 2025-26 had gone to OT or a shootout—so credit to Colorado for finally stealing the lone regulation victory of the regular season series.
Dallas rolling with DeSmith gave their fans a ready-made excuse, but when you get blanked, the finger has to point somewhere—and Scott Wedgewood was outstanding again. He now has three shutouts this season, all against divisional foes.
Big respect to Dallas for honoring Brent Burns and his 1,000th straight game the way they did. When you consider he started that insane streak after already playing 600 games, it’s truly remarkable. That’s something worth celebrating no matter which jersey he’s wearing.
Upcoming
It’s a quick turnaround for the Avalanche, who now welcome the St. Louis Blues tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. MT.
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