Denver, CO (SportsNetwork.com) - Matt Duchene picked up the deciding goal early in the third period and added an assist, as Colorado escaped with a 4-3 victory over Dallas at Pepsi Center.
Erik Johnson, John Mitchell and Nathan MacKinnon lit the lamp in the second period for the Avalanche, who have won three in a row and seven of 10 overall.
Semyon Varlamov snagged the win thanks to a 37-save performance.
Brett Ritchie, Colton Sceviour and Ales Hemsky scored for the Stars, losers of four straight since winning four in a row. Kari Lehtonen stopped 26 shots in defeat.
"I thought we did a better job at the end of the game. It felt like we could just get that one (game-tying goal)," said Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski. "We played all right for a while in the second, but they got the momentum back with the quick two. That's something teams have done against us this year."
On the opening shift of the third, Duchene used his body as a shield to ward off a Stars defender, circled behind the Dallas net and lifted a wrister from the left circle to give the hosts a 4-2 edge.
"That was something I've done before. Sometimes it just does not go in. This time it did," Duchene said of his first goal since Dec. 11. "I kind of took my time there and was able to score it. Hopefully that ended the only kind of stretch like that I'll go through this season."
Hemsky brought his club back to a goal at 2:38, but Colorado's defense and Varlamov combined to hold that margin.
Varlamov stoned Jason Spezza from the right side with less than 30 seconds to go, and when Alex Tanguay was booked for hooking, the Stars skated 6-on-4 in the final 18 ticks.
The visitors failed to squeeze off a quality chance until the buzzer.
Just 27 seconds into the contest, a turnaround shot from between the circles by Tyler Seguin nipped Ritchie and beat Varlamov. Sceviour doubled the Dallas edge on a backhander from the slot at 9:24.
Johnson finally provided some offense for the hosts at 7:18 of the second period with a low shot from the right circle and Mitchell evened things at 8:43 on a rocket from the left point.
MacKinnon made it 3-2 when he crashed the crease and managed to dislodge his own rebound which sat alongside Lehtonen's right pad so that it slid over the goal line with nine seconds left before intermission.
"Goals just aren't easy at times, but I'll take it. There was a lot of waiting, but I'm thankful they called it good," MacKinnon mentioned of what became just his third goal since mid-November.
Game Notes
Colorado improved to 10-0-0 this season when scoring four-or-more times in games not decided by shootouts ... Dallas failed to capitalize on any of its six power-play chances ... The Avalanche kick off a five-game road swing in Washington on Monday, and the Stars begin a three-game homestand on Tuesday by welcoming Ottawa ... Johnson will represent the Avs at the All-Star Game in Columbus in two weeks, while Seguin gained the Stars' lone ASG mention.
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