DENVER -- The Stars vowed to exact some revenge on the Avalanche, and their 4-1 victory on Tuesday night was as big as they come.
From the goalie on out, Dallas got contributions from everyone on both sides of the puck. Two goals on the power play and a perfect penalty kill were key factors in giving the Stars a crucial win to open their three-game road trip.
Here are the five takeaways of the game:
Video: Pavelski nets 2 PPGs in 4-1 Stars win over Avalanche
JAKE "BRICK WALL" OETTINGER
Jake Oettinger's 46-save effort goes down as one of his finest performances in his NHL career. He was terrific from start to finish, tracking pucks and making key saves in key moments.
He said it was one of those nights where he felt like he was seeing everything. It was also a game where pucks seemed to stick to him.
At just 23 years of age, Oettinger is proving he's the club's present (and future) in net.
PAVELSKI'S GOAL CAPS OFF SOLID OPENING 20
The veteran's power-play goal was the reward for a hard-working first period. The Stars got key blocks from Denis Gurianov and Jani Hakanpaa to keep the game scoreless and killed off a penalty to one of the league's deadliest teams with the man advantage.
Oettinger was terrific throughout the first period stopping all 14 shots faced and Joe Pavelski gave the Stars a 1-0 lead with under two minutes remaining in the first.
ROBERTSON'S SMARTS ON DISPLAY
Jason Robertson made a subtle play that led to Pavelski's goal in the first period that might've gone unnoticed. After he received a cross-ice pass from Tyler Seguin, Robertson held onto the puck just a split second longer which allowed a clear passing lane to Pavelski to open up.
It wasn't a fake-pass or pump fake. Instead, a slight hesitation that made all the difference.
Video: DAL@COL: Pavelski scores opening PPG from in front
SPECIAL SPECIAL TEAMS
Scoring twice on the power play is always good but doing it against the Avalanche in your first two attempts is even bigger. Leave it to Pavelski to snap a six-game drought with two enormous power-play tallies.
At the other end, the Stars' penalty kill was at its very best going 4-for-4 on the night.
DOING WHATEVER IT TAKES
The Stars were credited with 29 blocked shots, five of which to Hakanpaa alone. It was a total team effort in the d-zone. Roope Hintz at one point dropped down on all fours to close off the nearside post on a chance from the Avs that prevented a scoring chance into a wide-open net.
"That shows the commitment from the players," said Stars coach Rick Bowness. "That team possesses the puck better than anyone in the league. They're going to get their looks and their time in the zone. You've got to be willing to get into the shooting lanes. Give our players full marks. They paid the price to win that game."
This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.
Kyle Shohara is the Digital Manager for DallasStars.com and writes about the Stars/NHL. Follow him on Twitter @kyleshohara.
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February 14, 2022 at 03:00PM
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5 takeaways: Complete defensive effort, special teams prevails for Stars - BlueJackets.com
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