Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin led the Stars to another overtime win

The Dallas Stars traveled to Denver, Colorado, to take on the Colorado Avalanche for game 3 of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Tonight was a unique night for the Avalanche because their captain played his first game in three years after countless surgeries. The Stars did a great job of weathering the storm and beat the Avalanche 2-1 in overtime. What a heck of a play from Rantanen to set up Seguin for the game-winning goal.

The refs called a tripping penalty on Mikko Rantanen, which never happened, and Valeri Nichushkin scored shortly after that. Unfortunately, that was the difference in the game, and the Stars are now back to trailing in this series. Jake Oettinger played a great game while getting help from the insane forward group. That was a win going up against the Avalanche and the refs tonight. Here are the four keys to Dallas's second overtime win.

Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche Recap: 4. Esa Lindell

The Stars wouldn't have won game 3 without Esa Lindell's block in overtime. What a fantastic block by Lindell to keep the puck out of the net in overtime. Lindell has stepped up with Heiskanen out of the lineup. He might get some help with Heiskanen returning for game 4 on Saturday. The Stars needed the series lead and got it tonight despite the late urgency from the team. Lindell and Oettinger deserve the cowboy hat tonight for killing off the remainder of Mason Marchment's penalty at the end of the third period.

Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche Recap: 3. Oettinger was fantastic

Jake Oettinger deserves all of the forwards' paychecks tonight. He kept the Stars in the game for 60 minutes tonight, and no one decided to step up and help the guy. The Stars' forwards are some of the best in the league, and they didn't score a goal tonight. Mikko Rantanen gave the pass to Marchment, who set up the game-winning goal. Oettinger deserves a lot of praise for standing on his head tonight because it seems like he was the only player who decided to show up.

Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche Recap: 2. Late urgency

Where was the urgency of the team from game 2 tonight? There was no urgency to score goals after going down 1-0 in the first period. It stinks that one of these teams will get eliminated in the first round because both teams are playing like the Stanley Cup is on the line. However, the Stars did show up in the third period by going to the net, and Jamie Benn was able to redirect it past MacKenzie Blackwood. The urgency showed up late, and it helped the Stars win the game tonight.

Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche Recap: 1. Dutchy

I didn't want to call out Duchene for giving up tonight's goal, but I must. He needed to make a play when there was blown coverage on Colorado's first goal. He's done a phenomenal job in Dallas, but you must put your body on the line during the playoffs instead of pointing fingers. I would have been happy if he had taken a penalty because the Stars could have tried to kill off the penalty. However, the Stars have the series lead 2-1 going into Saturday's game at Ball Arena.

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