05/03/25 11:36:00
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05/03 23:35 CDT Rantanen has hat trick as Stars rally past Avalanche 4-2 in
Game 7 to advance to 2nd round
Rantanen has hat trick as Stars rally past Avalanche 4-2 in Game 7 to advance
to 2nd round
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
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.
___
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and
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