Cale Makar found the puck on an Avalanche rush and his wris­ter into the Stars’ net was equal parts redemp­tion, bliss and hock­ey history.

Makar scored the go-ahead goal Wednes­day mid­way through the sec­ond peri­od in a 4–1 Col­orado win to send their sec­ond-round series against Dal­las to Game 7. It pushed Makar’s post­sea­son points total to 15 (four goals) — the most ever by a rook­ie defense­man in the NHL playoffs.

“For these past two games, our mind­set has changed,” Makar said. “We have a team that’s going to fight until the end.”

Makar stepped up when the Avs need­ed him most, unlike Sun­day in Game 4, when the 21-year-old final­ly did some­thing in line with his youth. Near­ing sev­en min­utes left in the third peri­od, Makar let a sil­ly turnover go behind his own net that led to a goal in the Stars’ 5–4 victory.

Makar, just for a moment, hung his head down toward the ice. His team­mates nev­er lost trust.

“We think Cale is the best defense­man in the league,” Avalanche for­ward Nathan MacK­in­non said Sun­day. “We’re not wor­ried about that turnover.”

Makar, one of three final­ists for NHL Rook­ie of the Year, val­i­dat­ed MacKinnon’s com­ments with an assist in the Avs’ Game 5 vic­to­ry fol­lowed by his key goal on Wednes­day night. Makar has also ratch­eted up his phys­i­cal­i­ty with vet­er­an defense­man Erik John­son out indefinitely.

Makar’s on-ice gifts — light­ning quick­ness, spa­tial aware­ness and a dev­as­tat­ing shot — are what like­ly keep oppos­ing coach­es up at night. But the rook­ie is already show­ing signs of elite phys­i­cal tough­ness as well. His Game 4 gaffe is sim­ply a thing of the past with anoth­er win-or-go-home sce­nario on tap Fri­day in Edmonton.

“I think he’s real­ly mature for his age and his expe­ri­ence lev­el in the league,” Avalanche coach Jared Bed­nar said. “He’s just a smart, intel­li­gent play­er and he under­stands the game. One mis­take isn’t going to define him. He has an easy time let­ting go of what he did the last shift or the last peri­od. He just keeps look­ing for­ward and tries to make an impact.”