Jason Robertson scored before anybody else took a shootout attempt. Roope Hintz supplied the goal that eventually decided it. Dallas needed both finishes, with Casey DeSmith stopping Brock Nelson afterward to complete Wednesday’s 3-2 win over Colorado.
The last successful shooter usually gets the photograph. Robertson deserves space beside Hintz because his opening wrist shot was already doing useful work when the Avalanche found an answer. It gave Dallas an advantage to defend in the tiebreaker, rather than leaving the Stars dependent on their next shooter to get them started.
DeSmith stopped Martin Necas after Robertson scored. Then Scott Wedgewood denied Tyler Seguin at the other end, and Nazem Kadri converted his second-round attempt for Colorado. The shootout was tied after two rounds. Robertson’s successful opening assignment was the reason Dallas could absorb Kadri’s answer without falling behind.
The third round was a separate test. Mikko Rantanen hit the right post for Dallas, and DeSmith stopped Nathan MacKinnon for Colorado. Rantanen’s miss did not create a new Dallas advantage; it was an opportunity that stayed out. DeSmith’s following stop kept the teams level and left another round to settle the result.
Hintz scored on a wrist shot in that fourth round. Nelson still had an attempt available for Colorado, so the winning finish was not the final required action. DeSmith’s save ended the game. Two goals from four Dallas attempts and three stops from four Colorado attempts completed the exchange.
Robertson and Hintz did not add regulation goals to their individual totals in this game. Dallas scored twice through overtime; the shootout decision supplies the extra goal on the final score. That distinction keeps the shooters’ contribution in proportion without reducing its value to the result.
That is a substantial goaltending contribution alongside the forwards’ finishes. A shootout puts the shooter in an isolated, highly visible position, but a successful attempt does not remove the other team’s chance to respond. Dallas had already seen Kadri erase one advantage. DeSmith prevented Nelson from erasing the next one.
The route to that contest had been narrow. The teams were tied 2-2 through overtime, and Colorado finished with 27 shots to Dallas’ 22. DeSmith made 25 saves; Wedgewood stopped 20. Neither team was scoring freely enough to make the eventual tiebreaker feel like a decorative extra.
Dallas received its regulation goals from different assignments. Defenseman Miro Heiskanen tied the game in the second period, receiving assists from Rantanen and Thomas Harley. Arttu Hyry then scored on an unassisted short-handed backhand early in the third, putting the Stars ahead 2-1. Dallas had a lead to protect before it had a shootout to win.
