The Colorado Avalanche tied their opening-round playoff series against the Dallas Stars with a huge 4-0 win. With the best-of-seven series tied after four games, the Avalanche and Stars are proving to be one of the tightest matchups in the first round.
The Avalanche are hopeful, however, that a key return will continue to push them in the right direction. Captain Gabriel Landeskog took to the ice for his first game in the NHL in nearly three years in Game 3, then found the scoresheet in Game 4.
To give the Avalanche a 3-0 lead in the second period, Landeskog beat Stars goalie Jake Oettinger over his glove for his first goal in 1,041 days.
An unfortunate leg injury and brutal recovery process, including multiple procedures, kept Landeskog from playing for nearly three years, but he's back and ready to bring more juice to an already stacked Avalanche lineup.
“Pretty amazing feeling,” Landeskog said about his goal. “I think I blacked out for a few seconds and was just looking around for my teammates. Pretty amazing feeling, and just the genuine excitement from my teammates means a lot. I see the building was rocking again tonight.”
There were times over the last three years that Landeskog wasn’t sure if he’d ever play hockey again, let alone score a goal in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Now that he’s back and seems to be a lineup regular again, he’ll have more opportunities to keep helping the Avalanche succeed.
“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 feels good. It’s a tight playoff series and a big game here at home, get to do it in front of our fans. Obviously means a lot.”
Landeskog also picked up an assist on the Avalanche’s fourth and final goal of the game as Colorado hits the road again in a tie series. The Avalanche and Stars have the potential to go the distance in this series, and Landeskog should be an x-factor for Colorado.
