MacKinnon gets credit for fluky go-ahead goal as Avs tie series with 7-4 win over Stars in Game 6

DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon sent the puck into traffic in front of the net. What happened next may go down as one of the biggest playoff goals he's ever “scored.”

MacKinnon got credit for a go-ahead goal with 10:56 remaining after the puck bounced off the shoulder of a Dallas player and the Colorado Avalanche staved off elimination by beating the Stars 7-4 in Game 6 on Thursday night.

It was the bounce that kept the Avalanche from being bounced. The first-round playoff series heads to Dallas for Game 7 on Saturday.

On the winning goal, MacKinnon sent a pass near the goal that Sam Steel tried to clear. But it hit the shoulder of Colin Blackwell and caromed toward the net. Goaltender Jake Oettinger couldn't corral the fluttering puck with his glove.

“Super lucky,” MacKinnon said. “Hopefully we get more of those Saturday.”

For the Stars, they're trying to “laugh it off,” Oettinger said. Same with Valeri Nichushkin's goal to start the game that hit a stick, then a skate and went in. Or Cale Makar winding up for a slap shot, only to not get much of it and have it turn into the perfect pass to Artturi Lehkonen for a goal.

“They got better bounces than us,” Oettinger said. “Just can’t make it up. Obviously, (Blackwell) is not trying to knock it in our net.”

Nichushkin has been struggling in the series and taking his frustrations out on his sticks. He got on track with two goals, including the tying tally with 13:58 remaining. Lehkonen and Martin Necas also added goals, while Josh Manson and Makar scored into an empty net.

Makar, MacKinnon, Brock Nelson and captain Gabriel Landeskog each added two assists. Mackenzie Blackwood made 22 saves to send the first-round playoff series back to Dallas.

Stars coach Pete DeBoer is 8-0 all-time in Game 7s, while the Avalanche have lost the last six times they’ve been in a decisive seventh game of a series.

Asked if he liked Game 7s, Stars coach Pete DeBoer responded: “I'd rather win in six. I like Game 7s at home — I can tell you that.”

Colorado avoided having its season end at the hands of Dallas in a Game 6 at home for a second straight postseason. Stars forward and former Avalanche player Matt Duchene ended the second-round series a year ago in double overtime.

Trailing 2-0, the Stars erupted with a four-goal second period led by Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen. Hintz had two goals and two assists, while Rantanen added a goal and three assists against his former team. The Finnish standouts are the first pair of teammates in league history to each record four points in a playoff period, according to NHL Stats.

Mikael Granlund, another Finnish player, also scored in the pivotal period. Oettinger turned back 41 shots on a night the Avalanche outshot the Stars by a 48-26 margin.

“Both teams are going to be desperate,” Rantanen said of Game 7. "It's a tight series. I'm expecting the same thing Saturday.

There was a scary moment in the second period when Stars defenseman Lian Bichsel lost an edge and slid into the boards with Jack Drury on his back. Bichsel stayed down for a moment before being helped to the bench. Bichsel returned in the third period.

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Colorado Avalanche right wing Valeri Nichushkin reacts after scoring against the Dallas Stars in the first period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar, front, checks Dallas Stars right wing Mikko Rantanen, back, in the second period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Dallas Stars right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) congratulates center Roope Hintz, after, after his goal in the second period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche center Martin Necas, center, is congratulated as he passes the team box after scoring in the second period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche left wing Artturi Lehkonen, center, shoots against Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger, left, after driving past defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin, right, in the first period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog, bottom right, shoots the puck as Dallas Stars defenseman Cody Ceci (44) and goaltender Jake Oettinger, left, cover in the first period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche right wing Valeri Nichushkin (13) shoots the puck past Dallas Stars defenseman Thomas Harley (55) as Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger (29) covers the net in the first period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Dallas Stars defenseman Lian Bichsel, center, is helped off the ice by trainers after being injured in the second period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz, center top, celebrates after driving past Colorado Avalanche defenseman Ryan Lindgren, front left, and center Charlie Coyle (10) to score in the second period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Dallas Stars center Roope Hintz, left, celebrates after scoring with center Mikael Granlund in the second period of Game 6 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche, Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche left wing Artturi Lehkonen, front right, reacts after the puck went in the net past Dallas Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger, back right, as defenseman Thomas Harley looks on for the go-ahead goal awarded to Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon in the third period of Game 6 of an NHL first-round hockey playoff series Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon, right, celebrates after being awarded a goal with left wing Artturi Lehkonen, center, as Dallas Stars defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin reacts in the third period of Game 6 of an NHL first-round hockey playoff series Thursday, May 1, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Glenn Hall, a Hockey Hall of Famer whose ironman streak of 502 starts as a goaltender remains an NHL record, has died. He was 94.

Nicknamed “Mr. Goalie,” Hall worked to stop pucks at a time when players at his position were bare-faced, before masks of any kind became commonplace. He did it as well as just about anyone of his generation, which stretched from the days of the Original Six into the expansion era.

A spokesperson for the Chicago Blackhawks confirmed the team received word of Hall’s death from his family. A league historian in touch with Hall’s son, Pat, said Hall died at a hospital in Stony Plain, Alberta, on Wednesday.

A pioneer of the butterfly style of goaltending of dropping to his knees, Hall backstopped Chicago to the Stanley Cup in 1961. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player of the playoffs in 1968 with St. Louis when the Blues reached the final before losing to Montreal. He was the second of just six Conn Smythe winners from a team that did not hoist the Cup.

His run of more than 500 games in net is one of the most untouchable records in sports, given how the position has changed in the decades since. Second in history is Alec Connell with 257 from 1924-30.

“Glenn was sturdy, dependable and a spectacular talent in net,” Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “That record, set from 1955-56 to 1962-63, still stands, probably always will, and is almost unfathomable — especially when you consider he did it all without a mask.”

Counting the postseason, Hall started 552 games in a row.

Hall won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 1956 when playing for the Detroit Red Wings. After two seasons, he was sent to the Black Hawks along with legendary forward Ted Lindsay.

Hall earned two of his three Vezina Trophy honors as the league's top goalie with Chicago, in 1963 and '67. The Blues took him in the expansion draft when the NHL doubled from six teams to 12, and he helped them reach the final in each of their first three years of existence, while winning the Vezina again at age 37.

Hall was in net when Boston's Bobby Orr scored in overtime to win the Cup for the Bruins in 1970, a goal that's among the most famous in hockey history because of the flying through the air celebration that followed. He played one more season with St. Louis before retiring in 1971.

“His influence extended far beyond the crease," Blues chairman Tom Stillman said. “From the very beginning, he brought credibility, excellence, and heart to a new team and a new NHL market.”

A native of Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Hall was a seven-time first-team NHL All-Star who had 407 wins and 84 shutouts in 906 regular-season games. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1975, and his No. 1 was retired by Chicago in 1988.

Hall was chosen as one of the top 100 players in the league's first 100 years.

Blackhawks chairman and CEO Danny Wirtz called Hall an innovator and “one of the greatest and most influential goaltenders in the history of our sport and a cornerstone of our franchise.”

“We are grateful for his extraordinary contributions to hockey and to our club, and we will honor his memory today and always,” Wirtz said.

The Blackhawks paid tribute to Hall and former coach and general manager Bob Pulford with a moment of silence before Wednesday night’s game against St. Louis. Pulford died Monday.

A Hall highlight video was shown on the center-ice videoboard. The lights were turned off for the moment of silence, except for a spotlight on the No. 1 banner for Hall that hangs in the rafters at the United Center.

Fellow Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur, the league's leader in wins with 691 and games played with 1,266, posted a photo of the last time he saw Hall along with a remembrance of him.

“Glenn Hall was a legend, and I was a big fan of his,” Brodeur said on social media. “He set the standard for every goaltender who followed. His toughness and consistency defined what it meant to play.”

AP Sports Writer Jay Cohen in Chicago contributed to this report.

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FILE - Glenn Hall, second from left, stands with fellow former Chicago Blackhawks players Stan Mikita, former general manager Tommy Ivan, Bobby Hull, Bill Wirtz and Tony Esposito during a pre-game ceremony at the Chicago Stadium in Chicago, Ill., April 14, 1994. (AP Photo/Fred Jewell, File)

FILE - St. Louis Blues goalie Glenn Hall, top right, is pinned to his net waiting to make a save on a Montreal Canadians shot as Blues' Noel Picard (4) tries to block the puck while Canadiens' John Ferguson (22) and Ralph Backstorm wait for a rebound in the third period of their NHL hockey Stanley Cup game, May 5, 1968. (AP Photo/Fred Waters, File)