DALLAS — Ten minutes from a 2-0 series deficit, with a trip to Denver looming and the Avalanche’s inspirational captain on the verge of returning, the Dallas Stars remembered that they, too, are supposed to be Stanley Cup contenders.

Evgenii Dadonov poked in a Wyatt Johnston rebound while getting cross-checked by Joel Kiviranta midway through the third period, the Stars killed off a Mikko Rantanen penalty in the final minutes of regulation, and Colin Blackwell — a healthy scratch in Game 1 — scored the game-winner 17:46 into a breathless overtime, beating two Avalanche players to his own rebound, to send the series to Colorado tied 1-1. All the nervous energy that had built up at American Airlines Center was released in a burst of delirious joy.

The series now shifts to Ball Arena for Game 3 on Wednesday, with both Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog and Dallas defenseman Miro Heiskanen getting closer to returning. What was supposed to be the best series of the first round, a clash of two Western Conference titans, might live up to the hype, after all.

Here are some takeaways.

Blackwell ‘built for the playoffs’

Blackwell was a healthy scratch 13 times over the final two months of the regular season, and was left out of the lineup for Game 1. Asked how he kept his composure and his game intact as he slotted in and out of the lineup the last eight to 10 games, Blackwell laughed.

“I mean, I’ve been doing it for 10 years,” he said. “I’m used to it.”

Blackwell’s always been scrappier than his diminutive size would suggest, and he wasted no time getting involved in Game 1, starting the game’s first scrum less than three minutes in. His goal was typical Blackwell — all speed and feistiness, breaking loose for a shot and then out-hustling everybody for the rebound.

“I’ve always felt my game’s kind of built for the playoffs,” he said. “I love rising to the occasion and playing in moments like this. … It’s working hard when you get a chance on the ice, and in the gym and stuff. I’ve been doing this for a while, missed a lot of time over the years. (You have to) stay sharp mentally. Just working hard on and off the ice and making sure you’re in the right mindset. Now I don’t really worry about making a mistake or anything along those lines. I just go out there and play hockey and good things happen.”

Depth charge for Colorado

The Avalanche are defined by their superstars on the top line and top pairing, but in the postseason, just about every team has a dynamite top six and a solid top four. It’s what you have beyond them that so often makes the difference in a close series. And it was fourth-liners Jack Drury and Logan O’Connor who scored the equalizer and the game-winner in Game 2.

Just 62 seconds after Thomas Harley gave Dallas a 2-1 lead early in the second period — the Stars’ first lead of the series — Drury took an O’Connor feed and fired a beauty of a shot from just inside the left circle, beating Jake Oettinger to tie the game.

Then, at the end of the period, after Colorado killed off three straight penalties, O’Connor — who took the third of those penalties — jumped out of the box and got position on Mason Marchment, roofing a backhand over Oettinger’s glove off an Artturi Lehkonen pass. In between, Parker Kelly — the other member of the fourth line — had a golden shorthanded chance on a two-on-one, only to have Oettinger make it across the crease and turn it aside.

As a line and on the penalty kill, it’s role players such as Kelly, Drury and O’Connor who often decide close games like this.

“You’re looking for that chemistry (on the fourth line) and I think we found it,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. “It reminds me a lot of the (Darren) Helm, (Andrew) Cogliano and O’Connor line that we had in 2022. That was a highly effective line for us through the playoffs because they play against anybody and give a little reprieve to some top guys.”

Dallas got a boost of its own from the fourth line of Oskar Back, Sam Steel and Blackwell. Blackwell, a healthy scratch in Game 1, jumped into the lineup and instantly provided some energy, starting the first scrum of the evening after an early whistle.

Power-play problems

Dallas scored on its first power play of the game, with Tyler Seguin one-timing a Jamie Benn feed from the left circle past Mackenzie Blackwood to tie the game 1-1. But it came at the tail end of a putrid power play in which the Stars looked lost and disjointed. That became a theme in the game, as Colorado had little trouble clearing the zone while shorthanded. And when they couldn’t clear the zone, the Avs regularly tied up the Stars along the boards for 10 or 15 seconds at a time, salting away the penalties.

The game turned in the second half of the second period, when, with the score tied 2-2, Dallas had three consecutive power plays. The first was particularly brutal, with more tie-ups and more off-the-mark passing. The second was stronger, with Blackwood getting his right pad on a Matt Duchene chip on the doorstep, though the best chance of the power play came shorthanded for Colorado (Kelly’s two-on-one). With a seven-second overlap and an offensive-zone draw for the third, Stars coach Pete DeBoer called timeout to keep his tired top unit on the ice. But Colorado’s Charlie Coyle cleanly won the five-on-three faceoff for an easy clear, and Dallas didn’t threaten again.

Gabe’s back. Wait, no he isn’t.

Here’s a takeaway: They took away Gabriel Landeskog.

All signs pointed to the Colorado captain’s triumphant return after nearly three arduous years of recovery from a knee injury. But when the puck dropped, Landeskog was a scratch. A healthy scratch, technically.

It started with Landeskog participating in the Avalanche’s optional morning skate. Rather than stay on the ice late with the scratches (as he had been doing, including before Game 1), he was off the ice quickly, like any other player. Bednar suggested Ross Colton, injured in Game 1, was unlikely to play, and said Landeskog was an option to replace him. At around 2 p.m. CT, the Avalanche officially activated him. At warmups, Landeskog was the first skater to hit the ice, right behind Blackwood. Not only that, but during warmups, Devon Toews — who has been wearing a third “A” in Landeskog’s absence — didn’t have a letter on his sweater. On the early roster report, both Landeskog and Miles Wood were listed as playing, then Wood was moved to the scratches. But at the last minute, Landeskog and Wood were swapped. And when the players returned for the start of the game, Toews had his “A” back.

So now attention turns to Game 3 in Denver, where Landeskog’s return surely would be met by rapturous and rousing ovations.

“He’s just a super captain, super guy, great player,” Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson said Monday morning. “I think that any type of minutes he can give us is going to be huge, and just the boost in general is going to be awesome.”

Was it subterfuge? Or was this always the plan, anyway? Well, one of the first things Bednar said during his first news conference of the series was that he wouldn’t be revealing any aspects of his lineup ahead of time.

“I don’t give out my lineup because (there’s) nothing in it for me,” he said with a smile Monday.

DeBoer seemed less concerned about all the chicanery.

“I’m gonna go home, I’m gonna have a pregame meal, I’m gonna have a nap,” DeBoer said after the Stars skate. “I’m not thinking about Jared Bednar and what he says today, and I assume he’s not thinking about me. I hope he’s not!”

Missing the ‘D’ in Big D

The Avalanche’s dramatic midseason makeover has been a hot topic around the series, and as Bednar and several of his players have pointed out, that overhaul renders comparisons to Dallas’ 4-2 series victory over Colorado mostly moot.

But on Monday, it was DeBoer downplaying the significance of last year’s playoffs after he was asked what lessons he learned from having Chris Tanev on his blue line.

“You don’t replicate Chris Tanev,” DeBoer said. “I think that’s the beauty of Chris Tanev. Listen, when we played Colorado last year this time of year, we had Miro Heiskanen and Chris Tanev — two, in my mind, probably, of the top five defensive defensemen maybe in the league, in our lineup. That’s a different world than we’re in today with what we have. We’ve got to do it by committee, our forwards have to play a bigger part in that, our goaltender has to play a big part in that. We don’t have the same group we had last year.”

During that series last year, Tanev hounded Nathan MacKinnon all series long, leaping over the boards seemingly whenever the Avs star hit the ice. MacKinnon was held to a modest two goals and three assists in that six-game series. He scored his third goal of this year’s series in his fourth period, ripping a power-play goal from the left circle at 8:48 of the first.

Heiskanen skated before and during the Stars’ morning skate Monday, but wasn’t a full participant. Obviously, he can’t come back soon enough for Dallas.

Ice is not nice

The ice at American Airlines Center was a huge problem in Game 2, with players on both teams falling down left and right. Simple pivots routinely turned into faceplants. It could have decided the game, too, as Toews fell at the point that sprung Johnston for a near-breakaway. Rantanen, Josh Manson and several other players had high-profile pratfalls, too, with none of them coming from any contact.

Sometimes hot weather can affect the ice, but it was only 80 degrees in Dallas on Monday — room temperature by Texas standards.

(Photo: Jerome Miron / Imagn Images)