Colorado

Dallas Stars haunted by Colorado ghosts, blow lead vs. Avs just like in the regular season

Published

7 months ago

May 8, 2024

Dallas Stars haunted by Colorado ghosts, blow lead vs. Avs just like in the regular season

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.

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Colorado

Seeking Revenge Against the Capitals | Colorado Avalanche

Published

3 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Press Room

Seeking Revenge Against the Capitals | Colorado Avalanche

Colorado Avalanche (10-9-0) @ Washington Capitals (13-4-1)

5 p.m. MT | Capital One Arena | Watch: Altitude, 9News, My20, Altitude+ | Listen: Altitude Sports Radio (92.5 FM)

For the second time in six days the Colorado Avalanche will faceoff against the Washington Capitals. Colorado will battle to split the season series after a 5-2 loss at Ball Arena on November 15.

Soaring Past the Flyers

The Avalanche beat the Flyers 3-2 at Wells Fargo Center on Monday. Cale Makar posted his 10th-career multi-goal game and Casey Mittlestadt added a goal. Additionally, Mikko Rantanen recorded two assists and Justus Annunen made 24 saves. Following a scoreless first period, Makar opened the scoring with a wrist shot from the slot at 8:30 of the second period after receiving Nathan MacKinnon’s set-up feed. Makar thought he had his second of the game at 10:44 of the middle frame, but the goal was taken off the board due to a successful Flyers challenge for goaltender interference. However, Makar would eventually double Colorado’s lead on the power play with his eighth tally of the season at 15:08 of the middle frame with a shot from the point that deflected off a Flyers player on its way in. The Burgundy and Blue took a 3-0 lead at 8:34 of the third period when Mittelstadt dispatched the rebound created by Rantanen’s shot into the net for his seventh goal of the season. The Flyers answered with goals from Owen Tippett at 11:48 and Tyson Foerster at 13:32 to cut their deficit to one, but the Avs held on to secure their 10th victory of the season.

Leading the Way

MacKinnon leads the NHL in points (34) and assists (27).

Makar leads NHL blueliners in goals (8), assists (19), and points (27). He’s tied for seventh among NHL skaters in points and tied for fifth in assists.

Rantanen is tied for sixth in the league in goals (12) and tied for seventh in points (27).

History

The Avalanche are 18-20-4 in 42 previous regular-season games against the Capitals. Colorado is 4-1-0 in its last five matchups against Washington dating back to the 2022-23 season.

Winning Out West

The Capitals beat the Utah Hockey Club 6-2 at the Delta Center on Monday. Alex Ovechkin scored twice, and Charlie Lindgren made 24 saves. Utah opened the scoring with a goal by Jack McBain at 3:05 of the first period but the Capitals responded with tallies from Dylan Strome at 7:46, Nic Dowd at 7:56, and Ovechkin at 11:05. Ovechkin extended Washington’s lead to three with a goal at 5:38 of the second period before Nick Bjugstad scored for Utah at 11:44 to make it 4-2 in favor of Washington entering the third period. Ovechkin did leave the game midway through the third period with a lower-body injury and has been placed on injured reserve and ruled week-to-week. The Caps added two more goals in the third period from Brandon Duhaime at 7:30 and Aliaksei Protas at 9:56 to win 6-2.

Putting Up Numbers on the Potomac

MacKinnon has posted 28 points (11g/17a) in 20-career matchups against the Capitals including 11 points (5g/6a) in 10 road matchups against them.

In eight previous meetings with Washington, Makar has recorded six points (2g/4a).

Rantanen has registered 19 points (8g/11a) in 14 previous games against Washington including eight points (4g/4a) on the road.

Capitals’ Contributors

Strome leads the Capitals in points (28) and assists (22).

Connor McMichael is second on the team in goals (12) and third in points (19).

Aliaksei Protas is fourth on the team in points (18), third in goals (7), and tied for third in assists (11).

A Numbers Game

10

Makar became the first defenseman in franchise history to record 10 multi-goal games.

3

The Avalanche have three players (MacKinnon, Makar, and Rantanen) in the top 10 in points. No other team has more than one.

165

The Avs have registered 165 high-danger shots on goal, which ranks sixth in the NHL.

Quote That Left a Mark

“Juice is great. I think he’s been great all year. [He made] some big saves, especially at the beginning there…So [it was a] heck of a job from Juice for sure.”

— Casey Mittelstadt on Justus Annunen’s performance on Monday

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Colorado

Residents rally to save Colorado Springs library on brink of closure

Published

11 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Press Room

Residents rally to save Colorado Springs library on brink of closure

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Hundreds of Colorado Springs residents showed up at the Pikes Peak Library District Board of Trustees meeting Wednesday night in a last-ditch effort to save the Rockrimmon Library.

The library is set to close December 1. This comes after the board voted to not renew the library’s lease due to financial issues.

In a statement posted on their website on November 8, the board called the decision to close Rockrimmon a difficult one.

“A library provides access to resources and materials to everyone in the community, so considering a closure goes against the grain of our hopes for PPLD. However, our District provides access to nearly 700,000 people across El Paso County. We must make decisions that sustain the entire District.”

More than 250 community members showed up to Wednesday’s board meeting to show their support for keeping the Rockrimmon location open with another 119 tuning in virtually.

Former Rockrimmon Library manager Steve Abbott said he was glad to see the turnout.

“It shows that the community will not give up and they are going to fight to keep this library open,” he said.

For most of the almost five-hour meeting, 43 speakers took turns pleading with board members to postpone the library’s closure, extend the lease another year, and reconsider their decision to close the library in the first place.

One of those who spoke before the board, Abbott said closing the library will leave a massive gap for the 30,000 people who live in the area.

“It leaves a big library desert in the Rockrimmon area,” he said. “For a child to use a library now, they’ll have to go over I-25, under I-25, over Academy, under Academy to get to a library, and it’s six miles away from where Rockrimmon was.”

Speaker and Rockrimmon resident Jennifer Walker said closing the library would also deprive the area of a much-needed community center.

“There is no YMCA, there’s nothing else,” she said. “This is where we meet other moms when we’re desperate to talk to another human being that’s not a toddler, this is where we go to work when we need a quiet space, this is where the elderly come to use the computer or to check out books.”

The fate of the Rockrimmon Library was not on the board’s agenda and those who left the meeting tell 11 News the meeting ended with no resolution.

Walker said residents are still exploring their legal options.

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Colorado

What’s the latest on the Colorado River negotiations?

Published

19 hours ago

November 20, 2024

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What’s the latest on the Colorado River negotiations?

The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation released a breakdown Wednesday of five potential paths forward for the fragile state-to-state negotiations surrounding Colorado River operating guidelines that must be updated by 2026.

The Colorado River, which is Southern Nevada’s primary source of water, holds a precarious future as the basin experiences historic drought and state leaders disagree on how to deal with shortages. The range of alternatives is possibly the last major announcement about negotiations to come from the Bureau of Reclamation under the Biden-Harris administration.

“We have worked tirelessly over the past several years to bring Colorado River Basin stakeholders together for a transparent and inclusive post-2026 process,” Reclamation Commissioner Camille Calimlim Touton said in a statement. “Today, we show our collective work. These alternatives represent a responsible range from which to build the best and most robust path forward for the Basin.”

What to know heading into 2025

The breakdown between two coalitions of states, the Upper and Lower Basins, centers around whether the Upper Basin — Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming — should be required to take cuts to its water allocation past what’s known as the river’s “structural deficit,” or the 1.5 million acre-feet lost to evaporation and transport. The Upper Basin has argued that it takes too many cuts already because of its reliance on snowpack instead of big reservoirs.

The Lower Basin also has called for smaller reservoirs in the Upper Basin states to be included in discussions about cuts in water usage across the system.

Notably, one of the five alternatives is based on proposals from Native American tribes, calling for the government to account for undeveloped tribal water.

The acknowledgement of the ongoing duel between the Upper and Lower Basins is the “Basin Hybrid” alternative, which appears to fall somewhere down the middle of the two coalition’s proposals.

In a statement, Upper Basin Commissioner and Colorado negotiator Becky Mitchell said it’s too early to speak directly about the five alternatives from the Bureau of Reclamation.

“Colorado continues to stand firmly behind the Upper Division States’ Alternative, which performs best according to Reclamation’s own modeling and directly meets the purpose and need of this federal action,” she said.

The Lower Basin states of Nevada, California and Arizona didn’t immediately release a statement when the announcement was released at 1 p.m.

All seven state negotiators will convene in Las Vegas in early December at the Colorado River Water Users Association conference, where experts and officials will discuss what’s to come from negotiations under President-elect Donald Trump.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Contact Alan Halaly at ahalaly@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlanHalaly on X.

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