(2) Dallas Stars Vs. (7) Colorado Avalanche
The first upset of the 2006 playoffs came in this series when the seventh-seeded Avalanche defeated the second-seeded Stars in five games. The Stars had won three of the teams' four regular-season meetings, although two of those wins were in overtime.
In game one, the Stars came out quickly, going up 2–0 on goals by Brenden Morrow and Bill Guerin, but five different Colorado players scored, allowing the Avalanche to claim a 5–2 win. Colorado continued its momentum with three first-period goals to open game two, but Dallas responded with four goals in the second period, including two goals by Jere Lehtinen and a goal in the closing seconds by Mike Modano. Brett Clark tied the game with a short-handed goal with 2:04 to play in regulation. Four minutes into overtime, Jason Arnott got a shot past Colorado goalie Jose Theodore but it hit the post. The Avs quickly counter-attacked, and Joe Sakic scored his NHL-record seventh career overtime goal to end the game.
Returning to Denver with a 2–0 series lead, Sakic scored the first goal of game three. Stu Barnes tied the game with a short-handed goal, but Colorado led, 2–1, after one period. Dallas took a 3–2 lead in the second period, but Andrew Brunette scored with 57 seconds remaining in the third period to tie the game, and Alex Tanguay tallied his second goal of the game at 1:09 of the first overtime to give the Avalanche a 4–3 win and a 3–0 series lead. Dallas staved off elimination in game four as Niklas Hagman scored two goals in a 4–1 win.
However, the Avalanche denied the Stars a chance at a continued comeback by winning game five to clinch the series. Joe Sakic scored with just two seconds to play in the second period to give his team a 2–1 lead. The Stars tied it in the third period, but Sergei Zubov's attempted game-winner late in the period glanced off the goal post. After nearly 14 minutes of overtime, Andrew Brunette scored to finish the game and the series.
| April 22 | Dallas Stars | 2-5 | Colorado Avalanche | American Airlines Center | Recap | |||
| (Barnes, Robidas) Morrow 1 – 13:04 (Arnott, Ott) Guerin 1 – 15:02 |
First period | 16:42 – Hejduk 1 (Brunette, Sakic) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 5:24 – Wolski 1 (Dowd) 9:08 - pp – Blake 1 (Wolski, Turgeon) 11:12 - pp – Liles 1 (Brunette, Sakic) |
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| No scoring | Third period | 2:58 – Clark 1 (Dowd, Wolski) | ||||||
| Marty Turco 26 saves / 31 shots | Goalie stats | Jose Theodore 16 saves / 18 shots | ||||||
| April 24 | Dallas Stars | 4-5 | OT | Colorado Avalanche | American Airlines Center | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | 7:06 - pp – Blake 2 (Turgeon) 9:04 – Brunette 1 (Hejduk, Blake) 12:23 – Hejduk 2 (Sakic, Brunette) |
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| (Hagman, Zubov) Jokinen 1 – 2:41 (Arnott, Modano) Lehtinen 1 - pp – 5:54 (Kapanen, Morrow) Lehtinen 2 – 6:58 (Niinimaa, Morrow) Modano 1 - pp – 19:57 |
Second period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | Third period | 17:56 - sh – Clark 2 (Hejduk, Laaksonen) | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | 4:36 – Sakic 1 (Liles, Hejduk) | ||||||
| Marty Turco 18 saves / 23 shots | Goalie stats | Jose Theodore 21 saves / 25 shots | ||||||
| April 26 | Colorado Avalanche | 4-3 | OT | Dallas Stars | Pepsi Center | Recap | ||
| (Clark, Brisebois) Sakic 2 - pp – 5:21 (Hejduk, Wolski) Tanguay 1 – 18:53 |
First period | 10:49 - sh – Barnes 1 (Morrow) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 8:44 – Klemm 1 (Miettinen, Morrow) 19:45 - pp – Zubov 1 (Jokinen, Modano) |
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| (Liles, Tanguay) Brunette 2 - pp – 19:03 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| (McLean, Laperriere) Tanguay 2 – 1:09 | First overtime period | No scoring | ||||||
| Jose Theodore 19 saves / 22 shots | Goalie stats | Marty Turco 25 saves / 29 shots | ||||||
| April 28 | Colorado Avalanche | 1-4 | Dallas Stars | Pepsi Center | Recap | |||
| (Laaksonen, Hinote) Richardson 1 – 4:46 | First period | 7:35 – Lehtinen 3 (Modano, Zubov) | ||||||
| No scoring | Second period | 3:50 – Hagman 1 (Zubov) 18:41 - pp – Guerin 2 (Arnott, Boucher) |
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| No scoring | Third period | 18:45 - en – Hagman 2 (Lehtinen, Zubov) | ||||||
| Jose Theodore 35 saves / 38 shots | Goalie stats | Marty Turco 22 saves / 23 shots | ||||||
| April 30 | Dallas Stars | 2-3 | OT | Colorado Avalanche | American Airlines Center | Recap | ||
| No scoring | First period | No scoring | ||||||
| (Robidas, Guerin) Jokinen 2 - pp – 4:25 | Second period | 13:03 – Dowd 1 (Skrastins, Tanguay) 19:58 – Sakic 3 (Brunette, Hejduk) |
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| (Morrow, Zubov) Guerin 3 – 2:47 | Third period | No scoring | ||||||
| No scoring | First overtime period | (Sakic) Brunette 3 – 13:55 | ||||||
| Marty Turco 27 saves / 30 shots | Goalie stats | Jose Theodore 50 saves / 52 shots | ||||||
| Colorado won series 4–1 | |
Read more about this topic: 2006 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Conference Quarter-finals, Western Conference
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