Nathan MacKinnon was the closer Thursday night, but he got help from a few friends to survive a frenetic Game 6.
Before the reigning NHL MVP created the final three goals in a wild comeback at Ball Arena, a trio of critical players had breakout nights to help the Avs fend off elimination against the Dallas Stars in a 7-4 victory.
Valeri Nichushkin had two goals after scoring once in the first five games. Martin Necas scored his first playoff goal in a Colorado uniform. And a still snake-bitten Cale Makar scored his first of the series and had a three-point night.
“That’s the theme of our team. You can’t just … you can’t go away,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said. “You just have to keep chipping away and battling to get better. Keep grinding and finding ways to get those looks that you need, and you’ve got to stay responsible on the defensive side of it.”
Necas had just one point in the first four games of the series, but he did collect a pair of assists in Colorado’s 6-2 loss Monday night in Game 5. This was a different version of the player who arrived in late January when the Avalanche traded one of the best players in franchise history, Mikko Rantanen, to the Carolina Hurricanes.
The Avs outshot Dallas 17-6 when Necas was on the ice. His goal, on a beautiful pass from Makar, put Colorado back in front after the Stars had rallied from a 2-0 deficit. He also hit the post during a flurry of chances later in the second.
“I think Necas was highly competitive, skating, good puck decisions, managing the puck really well tonight,” Bednar said. “I think that that’s the best game that he’s had in the series. So it’s great to see him get rewarded for that. We need a big game out of him in Dallas.”
Nichushkin had the first goal of the night, and the one early in the third period to the Avs back level at 4-4 after Rantanen and Roope Hintz helped the Stars suck the life out of the arena with a four-goal barrage in the middle stanza.
His day began with a smashed stick at the morning skate, another sign of frustration for a guy who has been a fabulous playoff performer when in the lineup for the Avalanche. He was leading the NHL in goals last postseason before being suspended ahead of Game 4 against the Stars and forced to return to the NHL-NHLPA players assistance program. He had a great 2022 playoff run two years before that.
It wasn’t going that way for him in this series. Until it did.
“He’s a horse. He does it all for us,” said Avs captain Gabe Landeskog, who took the initial shot on Nichushkin’s second goal. “He has a skill set that not many players have. He’s getting rewarded for that, and keeps going to the net, keeps making the right plays. It’s fun playing with him.”
Then there is Makar. No player in these Stanley Cup Playoffs has shot the puck more than him. His 61 attempts are seven better than Los Angeles’ Kevin Fiala and nine more than MacKinnon.
Makar is ninth among skaters with 25 scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. He is the only defenseman in the top 50. That’s Makar’s game though — he gets into the scoring chance area instead of just firing away from the perimeter like most at his position do.
He still hasn’t beaten Jake Oettinger in this series, but he made the play of the night on the pass to Necas, set up Artturi Lehkonen with an unplanned changeup and then hit the empty net from behind his own goal line in the final minute.
“I just think he’s been unlucky,” MacKinnon said. “Every night he’s creating, he’s dynamic. He’s going to get real hot here, and it’s nice that he scored there at the end. I know it’s an empty netter, but they feel good — puck went in the net for him.”
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