The Avalanche has quite a performance to follow after pouring a season-high 48 shots at Dallas goalie Kari Lehtonen in a 6-2 rout Monday night at the Pepsi Center.
The teams meet again Tuesday night at the American Airlines Center in Dallas when the Avalanche attempts to knock off the Stars for the fourth time this season.
"I'm confident we're going to play another good game," Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. "I expect them to play a big one and bounce back. I'm sure they're not happy about their game, and they're going in front of their fans. I expect them to play a good game."
The Avalanche is in third place in the Central Division with 45 points, two more than Minnesota, which has played three more games. The Stars are fifth with 35 points.
"It's a big game any time you play home and home," said center Paul Stastny, who led the way with two goals and two assists. "You want to get that first win. Getting back on the winning track is big."
Plenty of players ended prolonged slumps.
Stastny had gone nine games without a point before Monday. He had two goals and an assist in the second period when the Avalanche scored four times to build a 5-1 lead.
"I always put pressure on myself," he said. "If anything, I was more frustrated, whether I showed it or not. No one will see it, but inside it's frustrating. That's how it is. It's a long season and you just have to keep battling through it. Not everything is going to go your way. Some games you don't play well and you get points, some games you play well and you deserve something and you don't get anything."
Stastny scored both of his goals while right in front of the net. He knocked in a shot from Max Talbot and another by Gabriel Landeskog, who had gone four games without a point.
"He was in the paint both times," Roy said of Stastny. "This is where you have to be. When we're talking about scoring different ways, if you don't score shooting in the slot area or coming down the wing, you have to be somewhere else and that's what we did. We showed great urgency around their net. We really wanted to put the puck behind their goalie. I certainly think it's going to help our confidence."
Right wing PA Parenteau matched his career high for assists with three after going four games without a point, and the Avalanche even got three goals from defensemen.
Erik Johnson, who went 21 games without a goal and five without a point, scored from the right point with three seconds left in the second period. Andre Benoit , who went 10 games without a point, scored at 13:42 of the same period. Tyson Barrie, who had gone 11 games without a point and didn't have a goal in 17 games this season, lit the lamp with 4:44 to play in the game.
"It felt good to get that one," Barrie said. "I’ve had a few chances, but nothing has been going in for me so it was nice to get that. Any time you’re having trouble scoring goals, if your D-men can chip in to help you get back in the groove, then it’s great. I think the guys on the back end did a good job of that tonight."
Offense had been a serious problem for the Avalanche, with 12 goals in the previous six games and one goal in three of them.
"The door opened for us," Parenteau said. "It's good for our confidence, good for everyone. It was a big team win and nice to get the offense going like that. We were on the puck the last few games and couldn't get it done. The confidence was low for a few guys who couldn't get on the board. It's tough on you. You're playing decent hockey and you're not getting rewarded. Tonight a lot of guys did and it's fun to see."
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Nathan MacKinnon scored a first-period goal off a drop pass from Matt Duchene (two assists), beating Lehtonen to the far corner with a nasty wrist shot from the left circle for his seventh goal. He has 19 points, the second-highest total among NHL rookies behind San Jose's Tomas Hertl (15 goals, 24 points).
MacKinnon finished with seven shots and was robbed by Lehtonen on a clean breakaway in the second period after he stole the puck from Stars defensemen Alex Goligoski.
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The Avalanche still couldn't convert a power play. Colorado managed 14 shots on goal on five power plays -- there were two two-man advantages -- but came up empty. The Avalanche has failed to score on 31 consecutive power plays in an 11-game stretch.
"You know what? The power play was really good tonight," Roy said. "We had a lot of shots and that's what we ask. Eventually it's going to go in. We didn't need the power play tonight, but we had urgency and I was very happy with it."
The Stars also were 0-for-5 with the man advantage and have gone 2-for-23 in their past five games.
"That was pretty much us laying an egg," Stars forward Jamie Benn said. "They came out strong and jumped all over us. They're a good team and they've got four pretty good lines. They just keep coming at you and we couldn't find a way to stop it."
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With a 22-9-1 record, the Avalanche has equaled the most wins through 32 games in franchise history. The Quebec Nordiques were 22-7-3 in 1994-95 ... The 48 shots Monday were the most by the Avalanche since getting 51 against the New York Islanders on Nov. 10, 2011 in a 4-3 overtime win ... Stastny's four points were one short of his career high, which he's accomplished on two occasions ... Cory Sarich had an assist to stretch his point-scoring streak to four games (four assists), a career high.