Stars let 3-0 lead 'slip away,' lose Game 1 to Avalanche - ESPN

Not one. Not two. Not three. But six. That's how many consecutive Game 1s the Dallas Stars have lost after falling to the visiting Colorado Avalanche 4-3 in overtime Tuesday night in the Western Conference semifinals.

The Stars jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first period after goals from Ryan Suter, Wyatt Johnston and Jamie Benn only to then go scoreless the rest of the way and allow four straight goals by the Avalanche, including the winner from Miles Wood nearly nine minutes into overtime.

«We had that game under control, and we let it slip away. But we've seen that in the regular season against them,» Stars forward Matt Duchene told reporters. «We had two games like that, so we have bounce back here and split the homestand here.»

The Avalanche jump-started their comeback by capitalizing on their power-play chances. Valeri Nichushkin trimmed the lead to 3-1 a little more than five minutes into the second period, and Cale Makar cut it to 3-2 nearly four minutes later.

Avalanche star center Nathan MacKinnon, who was named one of the three Hart Trophy finalists on Tuesday, scored the tying goal less than a minute into the third period.

«They're a great power play,» Benn said. «They've got a lot of skill. We'll have to watch some video, learn from it and move on.»

There were moments in overtime when the Avalanche struggled to find a clear shot before Wood found space on a breakaway and beat Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger for the winning goal.

«We didn't know we could come back, but we wanted to at least try,» MacKinnon said after the game.

Learning how to make the necessary adjustments following a Game 1 loss has proved to be a familiar theme for the Stars.

The last time they won Game 1 of a playoff series came in 2020, when