The Dallas Stars’ top forwards are cheaters, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said.

“They’ve got veteran centermen in (Joe) Pavelski, (Jamie) Benn, (Tyler) Seguin and they cheat. They cheat on the faceoffs,” Bednar said Wednesday, the day after Dallas used a questionable faceoff to beat the Avs 3-2 in overtime at the Pepsi Center.

To be fair, Bednar insinuated that all NHL teams, including his, try to push the rules to win faceoffs.

“They’re doing a better job of cheating on it than we are,” Bednar said. “We don’t feel like the linesmen we’re doing a good enough job (Tuesday), sort of holding (the respective teams) accountable to make it a level playing field on the faceoffs.”

The game’s final draw Tuesday between Pavelski and the Avs’ Gabe Landeskog immediately led to the game-winning goal by Stars defenseman Esa Lindell. In Dallas’ offensive zone, Pavelski won the puck back to Lindell, who skated in and wristed it past Philipp Grubauer to complete a regular-season sweep (4-0) of Colorado.

The Stars pulled off their league-leading 8th comeback of the season when trailing after two periods! You don't want to miss these highlights from last night in Colorado. #DALvsCOL | #GoStars pic.twitter.com/0TOQymUDqg

— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) January 15, 2020

Landeskog was furious at himself and young linesman Brandon Gawryletz after the game. Replays showed Pavelski hooked Landeskog’s stick on the dot before Gawryletz dropped the puck. The rule states the faceoff man in the defensive zone (Landeskog) is to put his stick on the ice first, and then the attacking man (Pavelski), with the sticks parallel to each other until the puck is dropped.

“First and foremost, at that point in the game, overtime, every faceoff’s important. I take responsibility,” Landeskog said Wednesday. “I should have just lifted my stick and backed out of there and reset. The reality is, it was just a bad drop from start to finish. I’m down in the D-zone first and he (puts) his stick under my heel and the linesman isn’t even looking — the linesman drops the puck without looking and obviously doesn’t see his mistake.”

Gawryletz, 36, made his NHL debut in October 2015.

“Frustrating. I’ll take some blame — I should have just backed out of there,” Landeskog said. “But the linesman has the responsibility of making sure it’s done the right way, especially at that key time. Yeah, I was really (upset) after the game.”

Bednar said the faceoff controversy with the Stars began Dec. 28 in Dallas, where the Avs lost 3-2 in a shootout.

“We got eaten up on the faceoffs a little bit in the (previous) Dallas game,” he said. “I guess we have to learn how to cheat better.”

The Avs’ rivalry with the Stars became heated early in the third period Tuesday when Benn accused Matt Calvert of embellishment after Benn was issued an interference minor off a faceoff. Benn cross-checked Calvert on his way to the penalty box, and after Benn was released, Calvert attempted to fight the Stars’ captain, who declined and raced to join the play in the offensive zone.

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Of an ensuing faceoff, the two did fight. “I’ve never had a diving penalty in my career. I get can-opened and he decides to cross-check and skate away. Whatever,” Calvert said Wednesday. “If he wants to confront me, confront me. And then I go at him off the draw and he kind of stares at me. A lot of guys like to sneak in the first punch, unexpected, so that’s what I’m thinking.

“So I drop one glove, not sure of what he’s doing, and he just skates away. I go after him in the scrum again. And then he’s looking at me again off the draw, and I think I hear him say, ‘You want to do this?’ So we (fought).”

Footnotes. The Avs had a full practice Wednesday and resume their five-game homestand Thursday against the San Jose Sharks. Forward Joonas Donskoi, a former Shark, is expected to miss his third game with a concussion. But Donskoi practiced with the Avs on Wednesday and could return Saturday against St. Louis. Colorado completes its homestand Monday against Detroit  before beginning an 11-day break between games.

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