Casey DeSmith faced every shot Colorado put on target through regulation and overtime and still had enough work left to decide the shootout. Dallas asked a substantial evening of its starting goaltender. He delivered a 3-2 win on Wednesday.
DeSmith stopped 25 of Colorado’s 27 shots at Ball Arena, including all four shots he faced while the Avalanche had the man advantage. Dallas was outshot 27-22, surrendered four power plays. Yet the Stars reached overtime tied 2-2, and Roope Hintz finished the shootout’s fourth round to secure the extra point.
DeSmith then stopped three of four Colorado attempts in the shootout. Jason Robertson scored in the opening round for Dallas, Nazem Kadri answered in the second, and Hintz supplied the deciding finish in the fourth. Those one-on-one attempts were another assignment after a full game’s work, rather than part of DeSmith’s 25-save total.
The first Colorado goal arrived at 4:55 of the second period, when Gabriel Landeskog scored on a tip-in. Miro Heiskanen answered at 15:03, with assists from Mikko Rantanen and Thomas Harley, restoring Dallas’s access to the game before the second intermission.
That access mattered immediately in the third. Arttu Hyry put Dallas ahead at 1:20 with an unassisted short-handed backhand, turning a Colorado power play into the kind of abrupt swing that can change a road game. The goal was Dallas’ only short-handed tally, while the Stars’ own power play went 0-for-2.
Brock Nelson tied the game at 8:21 of the third period, with Artturi Lehkonen and Kadri receiving assists. The Stars could no longer protect a lead, but DeSmith helped preserve a tie. Colorado finished with five more shots than Dallas; the visitors still had a route to both points when regulation ended.
The goaltender’s value was clearest in the arithmetic of opportunity. Colorado had four power plays to Dallas’ two, but its advantage produced no goal and DeSmith stopped each of the four shots directed at him during those chances.
That is not proof that he single-handedly neutralized the Avalanche’s attack; penalty killing includes the four skaters in front of him, and Colorado’s special teams still failed to convert. It does show that DeSmith handled the portion of the job that reached his crease.
Colorado also had two first-period goals disallowed. Jaden Schwartz’s effort was overturned after Dallas challenged for offside, and a later Landeskog finish was ruled a kick. Gavin Brindley hit both posts in the third without scoring.
