Avalanche-Stars Game 5 slapshots: Jamie Benn’s diving was embarrassment to Stanley Cup, NHL

Instant reaction from the Avalanche s - loss to the Dallas Stars in Tournament of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoffs series Dallas Flop City Nobody does hockey s dark arts like a Pete DeBoer unit does the dark arts Roope Hintz went after Nathan MacKinnon as if there were a price on No s head But on a roster of hockey A J Pierzynskis the Academy Award for Pure Sneakiness for Event goes to who else Jamie Benn The Dallas captain added to his legend against the Avalanche about into the third period when he skated into Colorado defender Josh Manson in front of the Avs net while Manson s stick happened to be up Sure enough while Manson looked the other way Benn s neck connected with the stick The captain fell to the ice in a heap as if trying to draw a red card in the Premier League It worked Manson was whistled for high-sticking and Dallas got away with it Again Blackwood pulled Turns out Mackenzie Blackwood is mortal after all The -year-old Avalanche goaltender after cruising along through Games - landed on the wrong side of the hockey gods early and stayed there Nine seconds into the contest the netminder lost a bank shot by Tyler Johnston as the hosts shocked everybody by stormng to a - lead At the end of the opening stanza it got even weirder With seconds left in the first Blackwood accidentally tipped a goal off his blocker over his back and into the net for a - Dallas cushion He was pulled to start the third period in favor of Scott Wedgewood the Avs veteran B option after giving up five goals on Dallas shots easily his worst meeting of the postseason to date Historic bad start That was fast And not in a good way You know it s going to be a weird night when on the opening faceoff Nathan MacKinnon loses his man and that man finds himself with the puck in the corner And you know it might not be your night when nine seconds into the challenge that man Dallas Wyatt Johnson banks a shot in from a crazy angle almost behind the goal that squirts under Mackenzie Blackwood and into the back of the net for an instant - Stars lead It was the fastest postseason goal in Dallas history It was the fifth-fastest in NHL history And in hindsight a harbinger for even worse puck luck to come for the burgundy and blue as Blackwood s blunder was still to come