DENVER -- Matt Duchene scored at 11:42 of the second overtime, lifting the Dallas Stars to a 2-1 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 6 of the Western Conference Second Round at Ball Arena on Friday, thus eliminating Colorado.
“I don't even know what [I did],” Duchene said of his reaction. “I know I ended up on my knees like last time I got one in overtime, but I have no idea, to be honest with you. It's just elation, right?”
Joe Pavelski found a loose puck during a net-front scramble and sent a backhand pass to Duchene, who shot over a sprawling Alexandar Georgiev from just below the right face-off circle.
“From what I remember, it was a little give-and-go. 'Dutchy' made a nice play to me. I got a stick on it,” Pavelski said. “It's just a battle. I caught' Dutch' out of the corner of my eye on the side and just tried to get it out there. For me, you're battling and you know it gets out to him, and I just got an eye on the net. It was nice to see it go in.”
The Stars will face either the Vancouver Canucks or Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Final. Vancouver leads that series 3-2 entering Game 6 on Saturday.
This marks Dallas’ second consecutive trip to the conference final. They lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights in six games in 2023.
Mason Marchment nearly won it for Dallas with an apparent goal at 12:31 of the first overtime on a wrist shot from the slot, but it was immediately waved off for goaltender interference against Duchene. The call was upheld after a video review.
“It's indescribable. You're so happy and see all the boys hopping over the bench and then I look over and he's kind of waving it off,” Marchment said. “The explanation that I got was ‘Dutchy’s’ [back side] was over the line. His feet were outside, but his [back side] was over the line. That's the explanation I got.
“That's hard. That's a momentum swing. Sometimes it can be a huge break for them. I think they maybe did push a little bit after that. We got a good break at the end there, squeaks out to ‘Dutch’ and he scores.”
Jamie Benn scored the tying goal early in the third period, and Jake Oettinger made 29 saves for the Stars, who are the No. 1 seed from the Central Division.
“Our team comes in here and wins three road games against the best home team in the NHL,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “Just fantastic character to be able to do that against that team in this building. What a gauntlet. Colorado was a more rested team after their first round. I just couldn't be prouder of our group. I thought everybody dug deep, and our depth did carry us through.
“That gave us the spark because we've got a mix of older and younger guys, but they were just fantastic. Just hard to believe with a gauntlet like that that you're only halfway there. But we're going to enjoy and need the time off here, and get ready for the next round.”
Mikko Rantanen scored, and Georgiev made 36 saves for the Avalanche, who were the No. 3 seed from the Central.
“It was tiring, there's no question,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. “You can see our energy level drop as the periods went on, but our guys played hard. They played hard every shift and defended hard.
“They're a really good team. They're disciplined. They're deep. They got great goaltending, [are] well coached. They have everything that you can ask for in a team. They're a contender in my book. It [stinks]. You put so much into a season as a group and you come up short. It's never a good feeling.”
Rantanen gave the Avalanche a 1-0 lead at 5:48 of the second period on the power play, roofing a wrist shot short side over Oettinger’s shoulder from below the right circle.
“It’s one of those you feel you played well enough to win the game and force a Game 7, just didn’t happen,” Zach Parise said. "Just a little bit of shock when it ends suddenly like that. It takes some time to process everything, but it's just a tough way to end.”
Benn tied it 1-1 at 1:56 of the third, receiving a behind-the-back pass from Evgenii Dadonov in stride and stick-handling past a sprawling Georgiev before scoring on a backhand into the open net.
“We've played with the lead a lot this series, and then we got tested here a little bit being down,” Pavelski said. “I think the second period, we weren't great and we were kind of stubborn as far as putting pucks in and how we needed to kind of create. I think in the third and the overtime, we were committed to doing it the right way. And we tied this game up by our forecheck, by creating some O-zone time.
“Just a great play by [Tyler Seguin] and [Dadonov] and [Benn] to get us that one. It was a simple chip, driving the middle. [Dadonov] makes a great play over and [Benn] finishes it. That was kind of a huge turning point for us. You could feel the legs coming for everybody.”
NOTES: Duchene became the fourth player in Stars/Minnesota North Stars history to score the series-clinching goal in a game requiring multiple overtimes, joining Brenden Morrow (fourth overtime in Game 6 of the 2008 Western Conference Semi-Final against the San Jose Sharks), Brett Hull (third overtime in Game 6 of the 1999 Stanley Cup Final against the Buffalo Sabres), and Joe Nieuwendyk (third overtime in Game 4 of the 1999 Western Conference Quarter-Final against Edmonton). … DeBoer earned his 17th series win, tied for second-most among active head coaches. Only Jon Cooper (18) has more.
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