Avalanche 3, Stars 2 (OT)
DALLAS -- Paul Stastny scored twice, including the game-winner with 1:24 remaining in overtime as the Colorado Avalanche carried their strong October into November with a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars at American Airlines Center.
Semyon Varlamov had a 27-save performance for Colorado in the win.
Stastny had opened the evening's scoring for the Avalanche at 8:22 of the opening period and he also ended the game with a 24-foot snap that got the better of Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen to clinch the overtime victory.
Dallas was able to kill off two Colorado power plays early, including a 5-on-3 opportunity that lasted for nearly a minute in the first period. However, the visitors broke through at 8:22 of the opening frame when Stastny flipped in a wrister from the right of the Dallas goal.
Stastny had started the sequence by sending the puck around the boards behind the home goal. After Jan Hejda collected it, he passed it to Alex Tanguay, who spotted Stastny open on the right side and he quickly finished for his third of the season.
The Stars controlled possession for most of the second period but Colorado made it 2-0 when Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog beat Lehtonen on his glove side just 1:19 before the second intermission.
But Dallas didn't quit and 3:57 into the third, Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski scorched a one-timer that beat Varlamov top shelf to make it 2-1. Tyler Seguin picked up the primary assist by feeding Goligoski, who unloaded from just inside the left faceoff circle for his second of the season.
Colorado nearly went ahead 3-1 just 37 seconds later when John Mitchell tried to slip one inside the near post. However, Lehtonen delivered a huge save, stopping Mitchell's shot first with his glove and then by whipping around his left pad. After a rather lengthy review, Mitchell's shot was called no goal.
However, Dallas did net the equalizer with 3:29 left in regulation when Seguin flicked a 30-foot wrister to Varlamov's left to make it 3-3.
Two seconds after the Seguin goal, Landeskog and Dallas' Alex Chiasson dropped the gloves near center ice -- Landeskog being assessed a minor penalty for roughing the Stars went on the power play with 3:27 left in regulation.
Dallas captain Jamie Benn tried to give the Stars their first lead of the night with 2:27 remaining but Varlamov denied him with a glove save at the far post to preserve the tie. Varlamov also denied close-range chances by Dallas' Shawn Horcoff and Antoine Roussel late in regulation.
Lehtonen stopped 26 of the 29 shots he faced in the loss.
NOTES: Scratches for Colorado were D Tyson Barrie, LW Jamie McGinn and LW Cody McLeod. ... Dallas scratches were D Kevin Connauton and C Ryan Garbutt. McLeod and Garbutt are both serving the final games of five-game suspensions. ... C Maxime Talbot, a member of Pittsburgh's Stanley-Cup winning squad in 2009, made his Colorado debut. Talbot, who skated on the Avalanche's third line alongside John Mitchell and Nathan Mackinnon, was acquired from Philadelphia in a Thursday trade that sent RW Steve Downie to the Flyers. ... Stars coach Lindy Ruff made one minor tweak to his lineup, moving C Shawn Horcoff from the middle to the right side on his third line. C Rich Peverley, who had previously been skating on the right side, took Horcoff's place in the middle. Stars G Kari Lehtonen made his fifth straight start in the net for Dallas since returning from a lower-body injury Oct. 24 against Calgary. ... Announced attendance was 15,223.
