Avalanche 5, Stars 4 (SO)
Ryan O'Reilly scored the lone goal of the shootout in the first round as visiting Colorado roared back to beat struggling Dallas.
O'Reilly used a deft backhand deke to beat Kari Lehtonen in the opening round of the bonus format, and Semyon Varlamov stopped two attempts while forcing Stars captain Jamie Benn to shoot wide to secure the victory. Defensemen Nate Guenin and Tyson Barrie each recorded a goal and two assists, captain Gabriel Landeskog added one of each and Jarome Iginla also scored while Varlamov made 32 saves.
Cody Eakin collected two goals and an assist to pace the Stars, who have surrendered 26 tallies during their five-game losing streak. Jason Spezza and Antoine Roussel also scored while Lehtonen turned aside 19 shots.
Eakin opened the scoring 2:45 into the second period, pouncing on a loose puck in the slot and unleashing a slap shot that squeezed past Varlamov. Barrie drew the Avalanche even at 9:55 by taking Matt Duchene's drop pass and ripping a snap shot past Lehtonen's glove, but Spezza restored Dallas' lead 29 seconds later with a goal-mouth conversion after Erik Cole's initial point-blank shot was stopped.
Eakin struck again 3:05 into the third with a well-placed shot through Byron Ritchie's screen, but Iginla's redirection of Guenin's shot at 5:43 trimmed the deficit before Guenin squared things 75 seconds later by gathering Landeskog's cross-ice pass and ripping a shot past Lehtonen from the left faceoff circle for a goal that was upheld by video review. Roussel's 12th of the season at 11:02 gave Dallas its third lead, but Landeskog responded 2:15 later with a slick deflection of a shot by Barrie.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The three points were a career high for Guenin, who entered with one goal and eight assists in 55 games. ... Barrie's three points gave him a career-best 39 on the season. ... Colorado improved to 10-11 in overtime and shootout games while Dallas dipped to 3-10.