Ahead of both the first round against Vegas and second round against Colorado, Stars coach Pete DeBoer said the regular-season series with each team gave little indication of how the playoffs would play out.

He was right when it came to the Vegas series, as the Stars were winless against the Golden Knights in their three regular-season meetings but came out on top in the seven-game series to advance to the second round.

But after Game 1 against Colorado, the same troubles that the Avalanche posed in the regular season came back to haunt the Stars.

The Stars took a 3-0 lead in the first period of Tuesday’s game before the Avalanche scored four straight goals to win in overtime and take a 1-0 lead in the series.

“Tough lesson to learn in Game 1 but glad we’re not learning it in Game 6 or 7 in an elimination game,” DeBoer said. “We’ve gotta be smarter than that. They’ve got that quick-strike ability that you’ve gotta be mentally sharp for 60 minutes in order to beat them.”

However, it wasn’t the first time Dallas had been taught that lesson. The Stars have blown an early lead to Colorado in all five of their meetings this season.

In their first matchup back in November, the Stars led 3-0 early in the second period before the Avalanche scored six consecutive goals to win 6-3.

In their second meeting in January, Dallas blew a two-goal lead with 10 minutes remaining, and Nathan MacKinnon scored the game-winner for Colorado in overtime.

In their third matchup in February, Logan Stankoven scored a minute into the game, but that lead held for just 1:08 before Colorado tied it and ultimately went on to win 5-1.

In their final meeting against Colorado in April — their only win against the Avalanche all year — the Stars saw a 5-2 lead narrow to 5-4 with under 10 minutes remaining. Wyatt Johnston and Tyler Seguin had to find two late goals to put the game out of reach.

On Tuesday, it was the same story.

“We shouldn’t have gotten to overtime,” Stars forward Matt Duchene said. “We’re up 3-0. I don’t think we stayed on our toes enough in the second. We kind of took our foot off the gas a little bit. They started to come at us with a couple of penalties, and their power play was obviously lethal. … We had that game under control, and we let it slip away.”

Dallas’ three-goal first period came as a surprise, even to those in its locker room. The Stars were less than 48 hours removed from a grueling Game 7 against Vegas. Colorado was well-rested after a week off.

The Stars managed to carry that Game 7 momentum into the first period before it stalled. Meanwhile, Colorado started rusty but eventually settled into its game and took over.

“That’s a high-octane team over there. It was a very different style of game,” Duchene said. “I think we can probably do a better job throughout the 60 minutes in forcing our game and imposing our game on them with the puck. We got away from it a bit in the second and kind of tide turned there.”

In the second period and early in the third is where Colorado’s playmakers turned the game. Dallas took two penalties early in the second, and the Avalanche’s dominant power play connected on both.

Top-line forward Valeri Nichushkin struck first while Norris Trophy finalist Cale Makar added a power-play goal next. Then, just 39 seconds into the third period, MacKinnon scored off a rebound to tie the game.

Meanwhile, the Stars didn’t get a goal from either their typical top three forwards (Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski) or their top defensive pairing (Miro Heiskanen and Thomas Harley). All three goals came from their third forward line and third defensive pairing.

DeBoer acknowledged postgame that needs to change.

“At the end of the night, when you look at the score sheet, their big guys all kind of delivered and are all over the score sheet, and I thought a couple of our guys were, but some of our scoring has to step up,” he said. “We’ve been waiting for a series plus a game now for some of that.”

Dallas had the more complete overtime, but it wasn’t enough to put the puck in the net. One bounce ended up on Miles Wood’s stick, and it just took one move around Jake Oettinger to seal the win.

But Dallas never should’ve been in that position to begin with.

Each series comes with a learning curve, but the Stars have had plenty of exposure to the Avalanche to know that no lead is safe against them.

They’ll need another hot start on Thursday, but this time they’ll have to find a way to keep that distance. If they can’t, their season will be on the line again heading on another road trip where their luck could soon run out.

Find more Stars coverage from The Dallas Morning News here.

DENVER — As this year’s legislative session winds down, Colorado state lawmakers are rushing to beat the clock.

“It’s always hectic the last couple of days,” said State Rep. Stephanie Vigil, D-Colorado Springs.

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives gave final approval to a bill aimed at increasing ridership on public transit. Senate Bill 24-032 — “Methods to Increase the Use of Transit” — would extend the Ozone Season Free Transit Grant Program, which provides free transit services during ozone season. It would also create a grant program to help young people ride fare-free year-round and extend a tax credit for the use of alternative transportation.

Deadline looms for Colorado lawmakers to finish work before end of 2024 legislative session

Vigil is one of the prime sponsors of the legislation.

“I’m just a big fan of transportation choice,” Vigil said. “Everybody needs to get around. Not everybody can, will or wants to have a car and drive a car.”

The bill will also create a committee to study the creation of a statewide transit pass.

Increasing ridership is also one of the goals of House Bill 24-1313, a major land-use bill. Titled “Housing in Transit-Oriented Communities,” the bill requires certain local governments along the Front Range to develop goals to build more affordable housing near transit.

“Coloradans are begging for more housing, and there is no better place to build housing and increase density than near transit,” said State Sen. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, one of the bill’s Senate sponsors. “This bill is important in multiple ways: It will increase housing options, reduce costs, and help our state reach its climate goals, all while protecting vulnerable communities from displacement. I am proud to champion this legislation, and I look forward to the benefits it will bring to our state.”

Colorado lawmakers consider bill aimed at increasing housing near transit

The bill provides communities with financial incentives to help them meet those goals.

“This bill will help along transit corridors in our state — replicate what the Asians and Europeans have been doing for a century,” said State Sen. Kevin Priola, D-Henderson. “People will benefit with affordable housing, cleaner air, and less dependence on automobiles.”

The bill originally included a provision to allow the state to withhold transportation funding from communities that didn’t meet their goals, but it was taken out after widespread criticism from local governments.

The bill also underwent several other changes over the last few days.

Despite that, some lawmakers remain opposed to the legislation.

“There’s very little in here about affordable housing,” said State Sen. Joann Ginal, D-Fort Collins. “1313 is really a developer’s dream. It was written by, of and for developers, not Colorado residents.”

After passing in the House in mid-April, the bill won final passage in the Senate on Tuesday and is on its way to the governor.

Lawmakers advanced House Bill 24-1152 that would require certain communities to allow homeowners to build accessory dwelling units, called ADUs.

“Everyone deserves a safe and comfortable place to live, but too many families are struggling to afford the cost of housing in our state,” said State Sen. Tony Exum, D-Colorado Springs. “By giving folks the flexibility to build ADUs on their property, as well as providing grant funding to help cover construction costs, we can bring down housing prices and keep more Coloradans in the communities they call home.”

Guns were also a big topic this year.

A bill that would have banned “assault” weapons — certain high-powered semi-automatic weapons — was tabled.

House Bill 24-1292, titled “Prohibit Certain Weapons Used in Mass Shootings,” was sponsored in the Senate by State Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver. She said there wasn’t enough time to give it the consideration it deserved.

“After thoughtful conversations with my Senate colleagues, I decided that more conversations need to take place outside of the pressure cooker of the Capitol during the last weeks of the legislative session,” Gonzales said. “In that spirit, I look forward to renewing and continuing those discussions over the interim. It is clear that survivors of devastating gun violence, responsible gun owners, and local and national policy advocates remain committed to doing the work necessary to save lives — and an assault weapons ban will do just that.”

Gun rights groups celebrated the bill being shelved.

“This was a huge victory for Rocky Mountain Gun Owners and honestly, not just for Rocky Mountain Gun Owners, but for gun owners across the state of Colorado,” said Ian Escalante, the director of operations with Rocky Mountain Gun Owners. “This bill was even more extreme than the assault weapons ban from last year.”

Escalante said the bill would have banned 95% of firearms in common use right now.

The proposed ban made it further than previous efforts, passing the House of Representatives.

Watch the House begin debating the bill in mid-April in the video below.

Colorado House begins debate on ‘assault weapons’ ban bil

Lawmakers are still considering several other pieces of gun legislation, including a measure requiring gun dealers to obtain a permit and a bill that would ask voters to approve a tax on gun and ammunition sales.

Lawmakers also advanced a last-minute bipartisan proposal to reduce property taxes in the years ahead.

The deal was announced by Gov. Jared Polis in a press conference Monday morning.

“This is huge. We’re talking about a huge property tax cut for property owners without crippling our state budget,” said State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton. “I think we have a very solid property tax relief bill.”

Colorado lawmakers to consider major property tax plan as session nears end

Lawmakers have until the end of Wednesday to finish their work.

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Jaw-dropping video shows the moment a driver crashed into a parked car in a Colorado Springs neighborhood.

The collision happened Monday morning at Flintridge and Anitra Circle on the northeast side of the city.

The witness, whose home camera caught the dramatic crash, tells 11 News the car was sitting in front of her house when the driver came barreling up the road. Both cars flipped over on impact, and the driver had to be cut out of the vehicle. They were transported to the hospital with minor injuries. No one was in the parked car.

11 News is still trying to confirm details with police, but the homeowners says officers told her that there was no indication the driver ever hit the brakes when coming up on the car — and may have been going nearly 40 mph over the posted speed limit of 25.

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