Landeskog stirs Cup memories for Avalanche vs. Stars, road has been good for Lightning and Panthers

Having captain Gabriel Landeskog back on the ice is certainly going to stir up some championship memories for the Colorado Avalanche.

They may be more than reminiscing, with Landeskog already contributing for the Avalanche in their first-round series against the Dallas Stars in his first NHL games since Colorado won the Stanley Cup three years ago.

“With a healthy (Landeskog) just in the room, we had a great little talk after the game. It’s just, there’s only one Gabe Landeskog in the world, you know, that kind of person and player. We missed him,” top-line center Nathan MacKinnon said. “There was a big hole in our room for three years. It’s nice to have him back and it means the world to all of us.”

Long sidelined by a chronic right knee injury that required two surgeries and multiple comeback attempts, Landeskog had a goal and an assist as Colorado won 4-0 at home in Game 4 to even the series against the Stars.

The series shifts back to Dallas for Game 5 on Monday night, when Landeskog will play his first road game since assisting on MacKinnon’s goal in their Stanley Cup clincher in Game 6 at Tampa Bay on June 26, 2022.

Tampa Bay and Florida play Game 4 of their series Monday night, the only other game on the NHL schedule after four games each Friday and Saturday — and before another four-game slate Tuesday. It will be the first day with only two games since a doubleheader to open the playoffs April 19.

Landeskog was the first Avalanche skater on the ice for pregame warmups in Dallas before Game 2 last Monday before being a scratch for the game. He played both games in Colorado and was up to the second line Saturday night.

“If he can come back and be even the slightest thing of what he was before ... to put it in perspective, coming back (after) three years, that’s incredible, especially just coming straight into playoff hockey,” defenseman Cale Makar said. “So for him to be able to do that, we’ll take anything we can get.”

The Stars are hoping for a potential return of their own, with top defenseman Miro Heiskanen getting closer to playing after being out since injuring his left knee against Vegas on Jan. 28.

Heiskanen may even have a chance to get back on the ice in front of his home crowd, like Landeskog got to do in Colorado.

Colorado Avalanche at Dallas Stars

When/Where to Watch: Game 3, Monday, 9:30 p.m. EDT (ESPN)

Series: Tied 2-2.

There was never any anticipation of a short series between the Stars and Avalanche, and this one will go at least six games.

Dallas had back-to-back overtime wins in a playoff series for the first time in franchise history in Games 2 and 3, and goes home in what is now a best-of-three series.

“When you settle in for that ride and when you get two teams like this, it might take overtime Game 7 to decide this,” said Stars coach Pete DeBoer, who is 8-0 in Game 7s, and would have that one at home.

The Avalanche have scored first in all four games. Dallas has led for only 62 seconds in regulation but has won twice.

Colorado goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, in his first playoff series, has a .939 save percentage (stopping 107 of 114 shots). He had 23 saves in Game 4 for his first career postseason shutout, one of only two in the playoffs going into Sunday.

“Just a solid force back there for us,” Makar said. “He’s the backbone of our back end. So it’s fun to play in front of him. And yeah, hopefully it continues.”

Dallas pulled Jake Oettinger after he faced 34 shots (stopping 31) in two periods Saturday night. That was just to get him some rest before Game 5.

Tampa Bay Lightning at Florida Panthers

When/Where to Watch: Game 4, Monday, 7 p.m. EDT (ESPN)

Series: Panthers lead 2-1.

Home-ice advantage has meant nothing. Road teams are 3-0. Florida had a blowout win in Tampa Bay, followed by a game that was 1-0 until the final three seconds. And now Tampa Bay has had a blowout win in Florida.

Add it all up, and it’s the Panthers with a 2-1 lead going into Game 4.

“We’ve got lots of room to get better. I’m sure they do, too,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “So I’m not feeling that there’s an aberration to how I thought this would go. This is going to be a grinder straight through.”

Sure seems it.

The matchup is shaping up to be peak Panthers-Lightning, with wars of words going on — Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper echoed Maurice’s words after Game 2, by saying following Game 3 that “the only players we hit are the ones with pucks” — and plenty of on-ice shenanigans happening as well.

The Lightning will get Brandon Hagel back for Game 4 after his one-game suspension for a 5-minute major against Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov in Game 2. Florida star Matthew Tkachuk drew the same 5-minute major for a hit on Tampa Bay’s Jake Guentzel in Game 3 — and could face further sanctioning.

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AP Sports Writers Pat Graham, Tim Reynolds and Alanis Thames contributed to this report.

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl