Wood scores 11:03 in OT as Avalanche finish off 3-goal comeback to beat Stars 4-3 to open 2nd round

May 7, 2024 | 10:20 PM

DALLAS (AP) — Miles Wood scored on a backhander 11:03 into overtime and the Colorado Avalanche, after trailing by three goals in the first period, beat the top-seeded Dallas Stars 4-3 on Tuesday night in the opener of their second-round Western Conference series.

After getting the puck on a rush, Wood stayed ahead of defenseman Miro Heiskanen and got the puck past Jake Oettinger to wrap up only the Avalanche’s third three-goal comeback to win a playoff game in their history.

Cale Makar had a goal and two assists for Colorado, while Valerie Nichushkin had a goal and an assist. Nathan MacKinnon had the tying goal only 39 seconds into the third period when left open just to the left of the net, and Mikko Rantanen had a shot off the post midway through the third period.

Alexander Georgiev had 19 saves while winning his fifth consecutive start in goal for the Avalanche. But the Stars, after nine shots on net in the first period, had only seven combined the rest of regulation, and six in overtime.

Stars goalie Jake Oettinger stopped 22 shots, ending his six-game streak of allowing two goals or less.

Dallas jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first period against the 2022 Stanley Cup champion, only two nights after wrapping up a seven-game series against Vegas, last year’s champ, in which both teams finished with 16 goals and the margin was never more than two goals.

Jamie Benn had a goal and an assist for the Stars, who lost their series opener at home like in the first round when they dropped the first two games. Ryan Sutter and Wyatt Johnston also scored goals.

Game 2 is Thursday night.

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL

Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press