DALLAS – On the day the Avalanche brought back Nazem Kadri, their Choo-Choo train might have gotten his swagger back.

Down a goal with less than a minute remaining, Valeri Nichushkin scored just his second goal since the calendar flipped to 2026, tying the game with 15 seconds remaining to force overtime. In that overtime, Nichushkin was a force, but with no goals during the 3-on-3 session, the game would go to a shootout, where the 31-year-old Russian scored the game-winning goal, sending the Avalanche home with a 5-4 win and a perfect 3-0 road trip.

Just minutes before tying the game, Nichushkin had sent a puck toward the net that hit not just one but two goalposts, so in a way, he was due some good fortune.

“Huge,” Nathan MacKinnon said of the goal. “I don’t know how long it was, but (it had been) a little bit, and huge for our team. He played awesome tonight.”

It wasn’t the best night for Mackenzie Blackwood, who gave up four goals on 12 shots and was pulled after just 22 minutes of play. There’s value in having a great backup, and Scott Wedgewood proved his value, coming in and stopping all 10 shots he faced, including two fantastic saves in the shootout.

“That was one of the best games, or partial games, I’ve ever seen him play, in my opinion,” Jared Bednar said of Wedgewood. “We gave up some glorious chances at the start when he went in there in the second, and we needed some saves to keep that game within reach .. We needed a big performance fromm him going in there in order to win that hockey game. It was a huge part of it.”

It’s not often that Colorado’s power play has kept them in games this season, but it did on Friday night.

The Avalanche scored two power-play goals in the first period, including one with just two seconds remaining, to keep this game within reach. If not for some big stops by Jake Oettinger, they could have easily had a third. Colorado finished the three-game road trip scoring on 44.4% of their man-advantage opportunities.

A big reason for that success has been MacKinnon and Martin Necas, who has been red-hot coming out of the Olympic break, switching spots along the left wall. It’s given MacKinnon a bit of room to work, as he scored a goal from that spot on Friday and set up Makar for another.

So far, the switch is working.

“We’ve changed up the routine a bit,” MacKinnon said. “I’m on the goal line a little bit more. Just trying to study other units, and I think they’re eventually going to go in for us a little bit too, but I think the process has been pretty good too.”

Avalanche 5, Stars 4

What happened: A playoff-like game ended with Colorado walking away with two points.

What went right: Martin Necas has been unstoppable since returning from the Olympics, scoring 14 points in six games. He picked up four alone against Dallas. “I think (the Olympics) was a little bit of a coming-out party for him. I think he realized that, and he’s come back and he’s played with a ton of confidence,” Bednar said.

What went wrong: Not a great night for Blackwood, who will not enjoy the film on the third Dallas goal. He shot the puck into his own defenseman (Toews) behind his own net and then slid out of position while trying to make a desperation save, giving Dallas an empty net to shoot into.

Avalanche goal scorers: Makar (19), MacKinnon (42), Necas (28), Nichushkin (13)

Stars goal scorers: Heiskanen (8), Johnston (34), Hryckowian (9), Benn (11)

Between the pipes: Blackwood stopped just eight of the 12 shots he faced, while Wedgewood stopped all 10 the Stars sent his way.

What’s next: Another big one on Sunday at Ball Arena, as the Wild come to town for an afternoon affair at noon.