Hintz Won the Shootout — Hyry Exposed Colorado’s Special-Teams Problem
GOATIFYRoope Hintz ended the Dallas Stars’ two-game confrontation with Colorado by finding a gap in Scott Wedgewood’s coverage during the fourth round of a shootout. The finish delivered a 3-2 victory in Denver on October 14, but it was hardly the whole story. Dallas survived two Colorado goals that did not count, erased a second-period deficit and watched Arttu Hyry turn a penalty kill into a breakaway goal. Casey DeSmith then gave the Stars enough saves to finish the job.
The result split a home-and-home series between two Central Division contenders. More importantly, it exposed the kind of small, repeatable decisions that could matter when these teams meet again: puck management on the power play, composure after video reviews, and whether a backup goaltender can keep a game within reach when the opponent controls the dangerous minutes.
Colorado had the early pressure — and two goals that never counted
The first period could have left Dallas chasing a much larger deficit. Colorado put the puck in the net twice, but neither play survived review. A successful Dallas offside challenge wiped away an apparent opening goal, and a separate ruling found that Gabriel Landeskog had used a distinct kicking motion on another chance. Neither decision changed the official score, yet both sequences showed that the Avalanche were reaching threatening areas.
That distinction matters. An overturned goal is not the same thing as a defensive stop, and a team that relies on the review process to escape dangerous possessions still has to address how those chances developed. Colorado moved through the offensive zone with enough purpose to generate two apparent goals before Dallas had settled. The Stars’ video staff deserves credit for spotting the offside, but that is not a sustainable substitute for controlling entries and clearing the crease.
Landeskog eventually gave Colorado a legitimate 1-0 lead at 4:55 of the second period. Nazem Kadri released the puck from the left side, and the captain redirected it in front of DeSmith. The goal illustrated the problem more clearly than the overturned attempts: the Avalanche were creating traffic and getting inside the defense rather than settling exclusively for harmless perimeter shots.
Cale Makar’s return gave Colorado another dimension. He had missed the previous game after the birth of his twins, then played 22:54 and finished plus-one in the rematch. His skating and ability to turn a static power play into a moving attack remain central to the Avalanche’s ceiling. But this was also a reminder that elite puck movers can become the target of aggressive pressure when a penalty-killing unit reads the play correctly.
Colorado took three of the four available standings points across the back-to-back, so the shootout defeat should not erase the broader competitiveness of its two performances. Still, for a team with championship ambitions, turning sustained pressure into actual goals — and avoiding damaging errors while pressing — is the difference between feeling in control and leaving points behind.
Heiskanen’s equalizer showed why Dallas needs more controlled possession
Dallas did not answer Landeskog’s goal with an immediate wave of shots. Its most important second-period adjustment was more basic: holding onto the puck long enough to make Colorado defend a second action. Mikko Rantanen worked the play from outside the right circle and found Miro Heiskanen moving into space on the opposite side. At 15:03, Heiskanen beat Wedgewood high on the short side to tie the game.
The goal looked like a defenseman finishing a clean pass, but the build-up was the more useful lesson. Against a fast team such as Colorado, a rushed chip off the boards can hand the puck straight back. A controlled cycle forces the Avalanche to turn, communicate and choose whether to follow a forward or protect the dangerous passing lane. Dallas finally created a sequence in which its defenseman could attack a changing angle rather than shoot into an established block.
Heiskanen is particularly suited to that task. He does not need to manufacture every opportunity with a spectacular individual rush; his value also comes from arriving at the right moment and recognizing when an opponent has been drawn toward the puck. The equalizer was his 70th NHL goal, moving him past Daryl Sydor into sixth place among defensemen in Stars franchise history. It was a milestone attached to a play that mattered immediately.
Rantanen’s involvement also offered a preview of how Dallas can diversify its attack. He knows Colorado’s defensive habits from his years with the Avalanche, but familiarity alone does not create offense. The Stars still need to make opponents respect the possibility of a second or third pass instead of assuming the puck will be cleared or thrown toward the net at the first opportunity.
Dallas entered this stretch trying to stabilize an uneven opening to the season. The team’s 3-3-1 record after the win reflects that inconsistency. A single successful cycle is not proof that every five-on-five issue has disappeared, but it is a practical model for how the Stars can get more from their most gifted puck handlers when the game becomes tight and physical.
Hyry’s short-handed breakaway turned Colorado’s advantage against it
The decisive tactical swing came just 1:20 into the third period, with Colorado holding the man advantage. Arttu Hyry read a play from Makar near the Dallas blue line, took possession and accelerated into open ice. Rather than forcing a quick shot from distance, he carried the puck toward Wedgewood, shifted from forehand to backhand and finished the breakaway for a 2-1 Dallas lead.
It was the Stars’ first short-handed goal of the season, and it was the third short-handed goal Colorado had already conceded. That second number should worry the Avalanche more than the first. One unusual bounce can be dismissed; repeated chances against while a team has an extra skater suggest a vulnerability in spacing, decision-making or the positioning of the last defender. The point of a power play is to make the defending team chase. On this play, Dallas instead dictated where the puck went next.
Hyry deserves credit for recognizing the opening and executing under pressure. The interception would have meant little without the acceleration to create separation and the composure to finish. He had been getting opportunities without always converting them, so a goal of this kind can carry a useful confidence boost for a depth forward asked to contribute beyond even-strength scoring.
For Colorado, the remedy is not to tell Makar to stop making ambitious plays. His creativity is one reason the Avalanche are so dangerous. The adjustment is to give the puck carrier better support and ensure that an aggressive pass or shot does not leave an uncontested lane the other way. A power play can retain its attacking identity while making it harder for a single turnover to become a breakaway.
The goal did not ultimately stand as the game-winner. Brock Nelson tied the score at 8:21 after Artturi Lehkonen’s initial attempt ricocheted into his path. That response showed Colorado’s resilience, but it did not erase the special-teams lesson. Against another elite opponent, one avoidable short-handed chance could be the difference between a regulation win and a night spent chasing the result.
DeSmith bought the time; Hintz supplied the final answer
By the time regulation ended at 2-2, the game had become a test of which team could stay organized after an exhausting two-night exchange. DeSmith made 25 saves through overtime and then stopped three of Colorado’s four shootout attempts. His performance brought him the 100th regular-season victory of his NHL career — an important marker for a goaltender whose job is often to deliver reliable minutes without the attention reserved for a franchise starter.
Jason Robertson gave Dallas the early advantage in the shootout. Kadri answered for Colorado, keeping the contest alive. The Stars then turned to Hintz in the fourth round. He approached from the left, slowed the pace and beat Wedgewood with a controlled finish. DeSmith completed the result by denying Nelson. It was an efficient ending to a game in which neither side had consistently dominated.
Hintz’s contribution carried an extra layer because of the previous night. He and Nathan MacKinnon had fought in Dallas during a fierce opening game of the set, a confrontation with added resonance after Hintz suffered a significant injury against Colorado last season. The rematch did not need another fight to establish its intensity. Hintz showed the other part of his game: the ability to remain calm when one shot would settle the contest.
Dallas also had to navigate absences. Wyatt Johnston was missing because of illness, and Oskar Back left the rematch with an upper-body injury. Those are meaningful details for a team trying to distribute difficult minutes across four lines. The Stars cannot expect their top scorers to solve every close game; contributions from Hyry and a steady night from DeSmith offer a more sustainable route through the schedule.
Colorado’s concerns were different. Its top-end talent still produced dangerous stretches, Makar was back in the lineup and Nelson’s equalizer showed the team could respond to adversity. But the two overturned goals and the costly short-handed chance turned a promising performance into one point rather than two. The Avalanche next host Pittsburgh on October 16, while Dallas heads to Chicago on October 17. Both teams leave this matchup with useful evidence — and a list of habits to sharpen before the Central Division race grows more unforgiving.
Hintz will be remembered for the winning shootout attempt, but the Stars’ 3-2 victory was built from several smaller interventions: a timely video challenge, Heiskanen’s patient equalizer, Hyry’s decisive read on the penalty kill and DeSmith’s composure in goal. Those plays allowed Dallas to split the series even when Colorado generated long spells of pressure.
The Avalanche can reasonably point to three standings points in two games against a major rival. They cannot ignore the third short-handed goal allowed, though, or the missed opportunities that made a strong start less valuable. The early-season lesson is clear for both clubs: talent creates chances, but the details determine how many of those chances become points.
