The only passengers Saturday night were the thousands of Avalanche fans buckled into Ball Arena seats for the ride Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen were taking them on.
MacKinnon scored twice and Rantanen registered four points, including his 49th goal, to lead the Avs to a 5-2 win in their last regular-season meeting with the Stars.
With 10:51 remaining after Dallas had seemingly closed the gap to 3-2, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar challenged for goalie interference in a high-stakes roll of the dice. Losing would mean a Dallas power play in a one-goal game. But Bednar won, and the lead stuck.