Gabriel Landeskog scores 1st goal nearly 3 years as Avalanche down Stars

Gabriel Landeskog scored his first goal in nearly three years and added an assist and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Dallas Stars 4-0 in Denver on Saturday night to even their playoff series.

Mackenzie Blackwood turned away 23 shots in Game 4 for his first career playoff shutout.

Nathan MacKinnon, Logan O'Connor and Samuel Girard also scored and Brock Nelson had two assists for Colorado, which bounced back from two overtime losses to Dallas in the Western Conference best-of-seven, opening-round series.

Jake Oettinger turned away 31 shots through two periods but was replaced by Casey DeSmith to begin the third. DeSmith made 13 saves for the Stars.

Game 5 is Monday night in Dallas.

Landeskog missed 1,032 days with a right knee injury that required multiple surgeries, and he returned to the ice in Wednesday's Game 3. It was his first NHL game since June 26, 2022, and Saturday night he scored his first goal in 1,041 days.

Nelson carried the puck down the left boards and slid a pass to the slot to Landeskog, who wristed a shot over Oettinger's left shoulder at 13:10 of the second period. His teammates swarmed him and the home crowd became raucous in celebration.

It was his first goal since Game 3 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final and was part of a dominant 20 minutes by Colorado, which outshot the Stars 22-5 in the second period.

The Avalanche continued to carry the play in the third period, holding a 14-7 advantage in shots, and Girard scored his first goal of the playoffs at 10:46 of the third period to seal it.

Colorado entered Saturday night 2-for-13 on the power play in the series but scored twice on special teams in the first period. The first came short-handed when O'Connor stole the puck from Thomas Harley at the Avalanche blueline, skated into the Dallas zone and beat Oettinger with a high shot at 12:39.

The Avalanche made it 2-0 at 19:36 of the first when MacKinnon's one-timer snuck between Oettinger and the left post just seconds before a penalty to Mason Marchment expired.

--Field Level Media