Someone should probably start on the movie script at this point.
Colorado Avalanche captain Gabe Landeskog scored his first goal in nearly three years and added an assist, punctuating a dominant performance in a 4-0 win Saturday night against the Dallas Stars at Ball Arena in Game 4 of this 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs opening-round series.
“There is only one Gabe Landeskog in the world,” Avs star Nathan MacKinnon said. “That kind of person and player. We missed him. There was a big hole in our room for three years. It’s nice to have him back and it means the world to all of us.”
MacKinnon and Logan O’Connor got the party started, but it was Landeskog’s goal at 13:10 of the second that led to a euphoric release of emotion inside Ball Arena after the home patrons saw their captain score his first goal since Game 3 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final.
The win evens the best-of-seven series at 2-2, with Game 5 on Monday night Dallas. It also guarantees a Game 6 back here on Thursday night.
Colorado’s fourth line grinded out a long shift in the Dallas end ahead of the third goal. The Stars probably should have been called for icing, but the Avs retrieved the puck and went right back to work. Josh Manson got the puck up to Brock Nelson along the left side of the ice.
Nelson sent it to Landeskog in the high slot. The Avs captain controlled the pass for a beat, then fired a rocket past Dallas goalie Jake Oettinger. Landeskog had two goals in that Game 3 against the Tampa Bay Lightning and an assist in the Cup-clinching Game 6.
“Obviously, I’ve envisioned scoring again for a long time,” Landeskog said. “And then there were obviously days where I didn’t know if I was ever going to get to score again. So obviously it feels good. It’s a tight playoff series and a big game here at home. To get to do it in front of our fans, obviously means a lot. It’s super exciting. Hopefully more to come.”
That was Nelson’s first point of the series. Avs coach Jared Bednar was happy with how the Avs’ big trade deadline addition played in Game 3, and he was involved in several scoring chances again in this contest.
It was the only goal of Colorado’s best period of the series, but that was solely because of Oettinger’s heroics. The Avs had a 22-5 advantage in shots on goal, including 14 in a row at one point. They had the next 11 shots on goal after the Landeskog goal as they continued to pour on the offensive pressure.
That same formula — a great shift by the fourth line preceding a goal from the new-look second unit — made it a 4-0 game. After the fourth line pinned Dallas in its own end, Nelson went to work on Lian Bischel in the corner to turn the puck over. That eventually led to a Samuel Girard goal, with a vintage Landeskog screen in front at 10:46 of the third.
Both Nelson and Landeskog collected assists to give each two-point nights. The fourth goal came on backup goalie Casey DeSmith, who replaced Oettinger at the start of the third period.
“Well (the fourth) line has been exceptional,” Bednar said. “I said it all year — they’re our most consistent line. Night in, night out, with the detail and the commitment that they play with and how competitive they are as a group of three.”
The Avalanche penalty kill has been a trouble spot this series, but it was the PK that put Colorado in front. O’Connor bullied Thomas Harley off the puck at the right point, then raced to the other end and buried a shot into the top-left corner at 12:39 of the first.
Dallas scored three times on the man advantage in the first three games, including a pair of game-tying third-period tallies to send Games 2 and 3 to overtime.
Colorado doubled its advantage with a much-needed power-play goal late in the period. MacKinnon scored on a one-timer from Devon Toews with 23.4 seconds left in the period. The Avs were 2 for 13 on the man advantage coming into Game 4, including an 0-for-6 Game 3. Jonathan Drouin, who was taken off the top unit, made a great play to get the puck to Toews.
This series had been incredibly tight for most of the first three games, but the Avs found a level of dominance — particularly in the final two periods — that no club has had in the 2025 playoffs.
Colorado had 93 shot attempts and 49 scoring chances, according to Natural Stat Trick. Both of those numbers are higher than any team has had in any first-round game, including the ones that have gone to overtime.
“We were just on our toes,” Bednar said. “It was highly competitive. Puck decisions were all good. Guys were willing to skate with the puck and force them to defend — some of the things we’ve been talking about for a few games now, and it came together there for a while tonight, which was good to see.”
Footnote: Ross Colton missed his third straight contest because of an injury sustained in Game 1. Avs coach Jared Bednar did not have an updated timeline for him ahead of Game 4.
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