Stars Outshine Avalanche

The Dallas Stars kicked off the Stanley Cup Second Round with a 5-3 victory over the Colorado Avalanche.

Dallas’ top line were collectively named the First Star of the game; Alexander Radulov had two goals and an assist, Tyler Seguin had a goal and an assist, and Jamie Benn had three assists.

Blake Comeau and Roope Hintz also scored for Dallas, the No.3 seed in the West, and Anton Khudobin made 28 saves.

Teams that win Game 1 are 485-220 (.687) at going on to win a best-of-7 Stanley Cup Series.

Nathan MacKinnon scored twice and recorded an assist, and Gabriel Landeskog had a goal and one assist for the second-seeded Avalanche.

Phillip Grubauer allowed three goals on 10 shots before leaving the game at 3:06 of the second period with an apparent left leg injury. Pavel Francouz made 18 saves in relief.

Seguin gave Dallas the 1-0 lead with his first goal of the playoffs four minutes into the game. MacKinnon scored 64 seconds later on a snap shot to tie it 1-1.

Blake Comeau put the Stars ahead once more when his shot deflected off the stick of Avs defenseman Ryan Graves at 9:51.

Radulov took a centering pass from Benn before beating Grubauer five-hole for his first goal of the game at 16:28 of the first to give Dallas a 3-1 lead.

Landeskog got the Avalanche within 3-2 at 4:36 of the second after skating around Khudobin and sneaking the puck inside the right post, before Radulov‘s second of the game made it 4-2 at 9:09.

MacKinnon, who was the second star of the game, got his second with a redirect at 18:29 to cut the deficit to 4-3 before the break. He leads the NHL with 16pts (6g, 10a) in the postseason.

Hintz ensured the victory for Dallas with a glove sided shot at 8:46 of the third.

Game 2 will be in Edmonton at 9:45pm ET on Monday.