EDMONTON, Alberta — Pierre-Edouard Bellemare began a five-goal scoring spree in the first period and the Colorado Avalanche avoided second-round elimination with a 6-3 victory over the Dallas Stars in Game 5.
The Avalanche trail the Stars 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.
Andre Burakovsky, Nathan MacKinnon, Nazem Kadri and Mikko Rantanen also scored in a 2:36 span for Colorado in a high-flying first period.
The five goals tied the franchise postseason record for a period. Burakovsky added another in the second.
Colorado goaltender Michael Hutchinson made an unexpected start as he stepped in for Pavel Francouz.
Hutchinson stopped 31 shots. Miro Heiskanen and Joe Pavelski scored second-period goals for Dallas. Jamie Benn added another late goal in the third period.
Game 6 is at 6:00 p.m. on Wednesday night and will be televised on NBCSN.
