Dallas hung in there

The Avalanche took game three, in what everyone knew was going to be a dog fight.  The Stars controlled parts of the game, but could not keep their lead after the first period.

The Stars came out and took every punch Colorado had to give them, thwarting their offensive attacks, and went into the second period with the 1-0 advantage.

They lost the lead, and then regained it in the third period.  To many, it looked as though they were going to win the game.  The third period turned into a real shoot out, with both teams scoring three goals each, but the final score was 6-4.

Leading the charge for Colorado was Cale Makar, Nazem Kadi, and Nathan MacKinnon. On the back end, Nikita Zadorov also had a stellar game, notching a goal and an assist.  Kadri has performed extremely well, compared to his past playoff appearance with Toronto, while only amassing a single minor penalty.

It was clear the Avalanche came out to match Dallas’ previous physicality.  It appeared in the third period that the flood gates just opened up on both team’s backup goalies.

Colorado is hurting, lacking starting goalie Philipp Grubauer.  Pavel Francouz has let in a whopping 11 goals in the last two games, with his save percentage at a combined .873.  While Dallas has maintained with their back up goalie, it appears that 30 year old Francouz has not been Stanley Cup ready.

The Captain is rolling

Jamie Benn sits second on the team in playoff points currently, with three goals and seven assists.  There have only been two games in which his opposition held him off the score sheet in these playoffs.

The team continues to win, whenever he is putting the puck in the net.  Many were concerned with his play, after a slow regular season, but he has shown up in these playoffs, backing up his intangibles with points on the board.

Khudobin has performed well

Although he allowed five goals in his teams loss to the Avalanche, overall, he has performed extremely well.  Anton Khudobin has stood on his head at times, against one of the toughest offensive teams in the league.

In his three games against the Avalanche, his save percentage has been a .922.  While Colorado has looked wounded without their starter in net, Dobby has given the Stars an advantage in goal.