So the Avalanche did to Dallas on Saturday what Minnesota did to them in the season opener.
Give up a goal in the first 20 seconds, fall behind 3-1 and pull out a 6-3 win with five consecutive goals, including two more on power plays.
Here's my NHL.com game story.
Yes, the big guys came through. Gabriel Landeskog had a career-high four points (two goals, two assists); Nathan MacKinnon had a goal and two assists, and he won 10 of 16 faceoffs; Erik Johnson and Jarome Iginla had a power-play goal; Francois Beauchemin had two more assists (five in two games) and blocked eight shots in a game-high 24:24 of ice time; and Alex Tanguay had two assists.
Just as impressive, the fourth line came through with the go-ahead goal to open the floodgates early in the third period before Landeskog finished off the Stars with his two goals.
The Cody McLeod-John Mitchell-Jack Skille line combined for the goal at 8:11 to give the Avalanche a 4-3 lead with plenty of hustle and just plain hard work. Mitchell finished it off with his second goal in as many games with a shot from the slot past goalie Antti Niemi, who gave up six goals on 28 shots after stopping 37 shots in a 3-0 win against Pittsburgh in the Stars' opener.
Mitchell's two goals have matched the two Marc-Andre Cliche scored in 74 games last season as the Avalanche's fourth-line center. Then again, Mitchell actually has some offensive ability. He's hit double-figures in goals in each of his first three seasons in Colorado and is getting some power-play time. Not to pile on Cliche, a hard worker, but he'd never see the ice with a man advantage, other than while sitting on the bench.
"There's no reason why our line can't contribute (offensively)," said Mitchell, who had 11 goals in 68 games last season. His three power-play goals tied for the team high. "We're all veterans and we've been in the league for a little while. We know what we need to do, we know our role when we're out there."
Say what you will about McLeod, but he can be a beast around the net, he did score seven goals in 82 games last season and he's a decent penalty killer. Yes, he took a needless interference penalty in front of the Dallas net in the second period and Cody Eakin scored on the ensuing power play to give the Stars their 3-1 lead.
But McLeod and Skille, a former first-round pick who came to camp on a pro tryout contract, set up Mitchell's go-ahead goal with some ferocious work behind the net. Skille used his speed to carry the puck down right wing and behind the net. He and McLeod outmuscled Dallas defenders for the puck before it went to Mitchell for what turned out to be the game-winning shot.
"You might not think we have the most skill, but that doesn't mean we can't put the puck in the back of the net," Mitchell said. "A lot of goals in this league come from a lot of hard work, grinding it out and just getting pucks to the net and rebounds. That's kind of essentially what happened, those two guys with their hard work behind the net, and they were able to find me."
Mitchell logged 16:32 in ice time and won nine of 14 faceoffs. McLeod, who fought with Antoine Roussel in the first period, played 9:56 and had one shot and the assist. Skille played 9:57 and had two shots to go along with his assist.
"I have a lot of confidence in these guys, I'm telling you," coach Patrick Roy said. "Mitchie is playing really well with Cody and Jack. I even put them at times against their top line. They're playing so well. They're physical, they finish their checks, block shots, play smart hockey. They don't try to overhandle the puck and they put it deep. Good decisions, good game management from these guys."
The trick now for the Avalanche is to play a complete game Wednesday against Boston to end the three-game homestand, take a lead from the start and hold it until the end.
"You never want to go down 3-1 and have to fight back, but this is good for our team," Mitchell said. "We know that, hey, this is a league where you can go down a few goals. Obviously we know that from Thursday, that you can fight back and get a win. Momentum is huge. We took the momentum at the end of the second period and fought back. We did not want to have the same third period as on Thursday."
*****
The Avalanche didn't practice Sunday, so we won't know until Monday at the earliest if Roy plans to stick with the defense pairings he used in the second and third periods Saturday.
He swapped Nikita Zadorov for Nate Guenin, putting Zadorov with Tyson Barrie, and Guenin with Nick Holden. The Beauchemin-Johnson pairing remains intact, as it should.
"We just wanted more offense and we feel they both can go," Roy said of Zadorov and Barrie.
The 6-foot-5 Zadorov played 15:59 and had five hits. Barrie played 20:55 and had two shots. Both were minus-1. Guenin logged 16:31, had one shot and was plus-1. Holden played 15:03, had an assist, one shot and was plus-1.