The Colorado Avalanche looked disoriented in a 7-3 loss to the Dallas Stars on Saturday at the American Airlines Center, although they could count on the return to play of star defenseman Cale Makar.
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A concussion sidelined the last Norris Trophy recipient since Feb. 18. He was cleared of the score sheet in 22 min 27s.
Head coach Jared Bednar had to deal with the absence of Valeri Nichushkin and Josh Manson this time. Without these two important elements of their defensive game, the “Avs” left far too much space for the first line of the Stars, one of the most formidable units on the circuit.
Jason Robertson took the opportunity to collect three points, including his 36th and 37th goals of the campaign. Roope Hintz (two assists) and Joe Pavelski (one goal, one assist) also caused problems for the visitors.
Miro Heiskanen, Mason Marchment, Radek Faksa and Wyatt Johnston completed the scoring.
In addition, Max Domi wears the green Stars jersey for the first time after being acquired before the trade deadline. He hasn’t blacked out the score sheet, but has already shown great chemistry with Marchment and Tyler Seguin.
As for the Avalanche, Quebec defender Samuel Girard had his first three-point game of the season. He scored his fifth goal of the campaign with an accurate slap shot, in addition to being accomplices of Andrew Cogliano and Evan Rodrigues.