Loui Eriksson gets overtime game-winner as Dallas Stars advance past Colorado Avalanche 7-6
It was a high scoring battle between Dallas and Colorado players fought to either take the lead or equalise the match but the Stars emerged successful as Loui Eriksson made the game decider during the overtime extension to defeat the Avalanche, 7-6, at the
American Airline Center in Dallas, Texas, United States.
"It was just one of those nights you don’t like as a coach but if you came to the game, you feel like you got your money’s worth", Dallas Stars head coach, Glen Gulutzan, said.
For Colorado, it was Matt Duchene who had another fantastic performance in his second night straight of regular and consistent scoring, which nearly gave Colorado chance to comeback from a 4-1 loss against Phoenix, but unfortunately, Dallas was also on a
roll.
Jay McClement and Matt Duchene gave Colorado an early boost in the game by scoring two straight during the first period, including the second on their first power play opportunity of the night, but the Avalanche failed to capitalise on two more back-to-back
added man advantages after that.
Unluckily for Colorado, their players gave four straight penalties as Shane O’Brien, Ryan O’Byrne, Cody McLeod and David Jones went out with various penalties at separate times, allowing Dallas to score their three out of four on those valuable chances.
Loui Eriksson made the first power play shot 5:39 into the second while Sheldon Souray took advantage of the third power play for his fourth of the season. Vernon Fiddler added one nearly three minutes later and Alex Goligoski ended the Dallas scoring run
at the 17:02 mark on their Colorado’s last penalty.
Duchene brought a halt to Dallas’ run after making a breakaway on the puck unassisted and Paul Stastny made sure that Colorado would not enter the third period below the Stars to level the match.
Daniel Winnik made the tie-breaker 1:57 into the third, Eric Nystrom potted his second to level it, Duchene completed his hat trick on a power play while Jamie Benn tied it once again with 4:10 left to play, forcing overtime.
"He quietly goes about his business. I thought he was our best player tonight", Gulutzan said of Eriksson after he made the overtime game winning shot. "He just gets things done. He’s quietly competitive and he’s a good player".
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