DALLAS (AP) — Mikko Rantanen really took over for the Dallas Stars when they needed him the most against this former team — in the third period of Game 7.
Rantanen assisted on Wyatt Johnston’s tiebreaking power-play goal with 3:56 left before completing his third-period hat trick with an empty-netter as the Stars overcame a two-goal deficit to beat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Saturday night to wrap up the first-round Western Conference playoff series.
“He just decided that we were not going to go home,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “What you witnessed there was special.”
Rantanen, who was in the playoffs with the Avalanche the past seven seasons and part of their 2022 Stanley Cup title, had a four-point period for the second game in a row. He is only the second player in NHL history to have four points in the third period of a Game 7.
"The series was probably exactly what I expected," Rantanen said. “I expected a seven-game series even before Game 1. I think belief was there with the group the whole time.”
The Stars move on to the second round to face top-seeded Winnipeg or St. Louis, who play their own Game 7 on Sunday night. The Jets would have home ice if they advance, while Dallas would start at home if facing the Blues.
Colorado had a 2-0 lead when Nathan MacKinnon made a short snap shot only 31 seconds into the third period. It was the first goal he has scored in five Game 7s, but all of those are losses.
Traded twice in a six-week period earlier this season, first from Colorado to Carolina and then to Dallas in a deadline deal that included a $96 million, eight-year contract extension, Rantanen had five goals and seven assists in the series against his original team.
“A difficult year personally, mentally, tough overall. To be traded twice, it’s not fun ever to get traded even once, but twice in a season,” said Rantanen, who said the handshake line with his former teammates after the game was emotional for him.
“They’re my brothers for sure. Most of them I know really well and played with them for 10 years,” Rantanen said. “Obviously we’re enemies this series on the ice, but I’ll always love them off the ice. It’s emotional for sure because everything happened so quick.”
Rantanen got Dallas’ first goal with 12:11 left on a shot from above the middle of the circles. He tied the game at 2 on a power play with 6:14 left went he skated behind the net and took a wraparound shot that ricocheted off the skate of Avs defenseman Samuel Girard behind goalie Mackenzie Blackwood. Rantanen then sealed the win with an empty-netter with 3 seconds remaining to complete his first career playoff hat trick.
“You saw a switch flip I think in Game 6 for him. He just decided that he was going to take over, and he’s big enough, strong enough, skilled enough to do that,” said Matt Duchene, who had two assists.
Stars goalie Jake Oettinger, playing in a Game 7 for the fourth postseason in a row, had 24 saves. He is 3-1 in those games.
Blackwood stopped 15 shots, including one in the second period to keep the game scoreless with his right leg fully extended to the post while Mikael Granlund tried a wide sweeping shot from the front of the crease.
Stars coach Pete DeBoer became the first player or coach in NHL history to be part of nine Game 7 victories. He is 9-0 in Game 7s, a record accumulated with four different teams since 2012. His first came with New Jersey, and he has since had three each with San Jose and Dallas and two with Vegas. The Stars have won a seven-game series in each of his first three seasons with them.
The Avalanche have now lost seven Game 7s in a row since 2002, the last four with coach Jared Bednar. They are the only NHL, NBA or MLB team to lose seven consecutive Game 7s, according to OptaSTATS.
“It’s tough because you put your heart and soul into the whole year, the series, all of it and then you’re in a good position and then it slips away on you,” Bednar said. "It’s tough because I know how hard these guys worked and how bad they wanted it and that’s all you really think of at this point.”
Dallas has won all four Game 7s it has played against Colorado, and reached the Stanley Cup Final after each of the first three. They went to seven games in the Western Conference final in both 1999 and 2000, and the Stars won a seven-game series in the second round of the pandemic-impacted 2020 playoffs inside the Canadian bubble.
Josh Manson put the Avs ahead 1-0 on a short-handed goal midway through the second period when they got another fortunate bounce.
Two nights after Colorado avoided elimination at home when its go-ahead goal in Game 6 came on a puck bounced off a Dallas player, Manson’s shot ricocheted off the post and then the back of Oettinger’s left shoulder before trickling over the line.
Oettinger and the Stars killed off a four-minute penalty through the first period when their captain Jamie Benn got a double minor for a high stick to the face of Valeri Nichuskin in front of the Colorado net. The Avalanche had three shots on goal and missed four others.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Stephen Hawkins, The Associated Press
