The Dallas Stars begin round two of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs Wednesday against the Winnipeg Jets, with Dallas looking to ride the momentum after narrowly defeating the Colorado Avalanche in a nail-biter Game 7 over the weekend.
The Stars finally pulled ahead in the third period thanks in large part to Mikko Rantanen, who pulled out a third period hat trick, scoring three of the team's four goals.
Saturday’s performance alone made it well worth the price the Stars paid at the trade deadline for Rantanen. They gave up Logan Stankoven in that trade, as well as a pair of conditional first-round draft picks in 2026 and 2028, and third-round picks in 2026 and 2027.
Rantanen signed an eight year, $96-million contract extension with the Stars in March after bouncing from the Colorado Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes, with neither team seemingly having the money to extend him. In Dallas, he found the money he was looking for — and Dallas found the player they were looking for.
Rantanen was solid in the regular season, putting up five goals and 13 assists in 20 games, but he found another gear in the playoffs when Dallas needed it most, especially in Game 7. The Stars were down 2-0 early in the third period, until he scored that first goal which seemed to spark some momentum for the Stars. Then he landed a crazy wrap-around shot and even an assist on Wyatt Johnston's go-ahead goal. Rantanen finally put it all to bed with an empty-netter at the end of regulation.
He's a dynamic goal-scorer, facilitator, and just flat-out game changer on the ice. Rantanen, Roope Hintz and Mikael Granlund — affectionately called the “Finnish Mafia” — really shined throughout the first round series, with Rantanen doing a lot of heavy lifting to get Dallas through that series.
Stars head coach Pete DeBoer also made history Saturday night. DeBoer now brags a 9-0 Game 7 record throughout his career — the most in all of North American sports, passing the 8-0 mark of legendary Boston Celtics coach Red Auerbach.
Dallas was also the first team in NHL history to pull off a multi-goal comeback in the third period and win in regulation in a playoff Game 7. While we can't attribute all of it to just DeBoer, it's clear the team’s success — and DeBoer’s — goes beyond good fortune.
In round two the Stars face the Winnipeg Jets, who also had a dramatic end to their first-round series against the St. Louis Blues. The Jets were trailing 3-1 in the third period, but scored twice in the final two minutes to force overtime and secure a miraculous comeback just over 16 minutes into overtime.
So, both teams have shown an ability to snatch a victory from the jaws of defeat, and the two goalies for Winnipeg and Dallas — Connor Hellebuyck on the Jets and Jake Oettinger with the Stars — are arguably the best American-born goaltenders in the world right now.
Oettinger's been the better net-minder in the playoffs, and a big part of why the Stars advanced, while Hellebuyck has struggled a bit more — especially in the opening round for the Jets. But with a pretty evenly matched pair of powerful offenses, the battle of the goalies might make all the difference in this second round.
It’s still uncertain whether Jason Robertson and Miro Heiskanen will be back on the ice for game one. Both are on injury reserve. Robertson sustained a lower-body injury in the regular-season finale, while Heiskanen injured his knee in late January and had to get surgery shortly after.
But in a post-game press conference Saturday, DeBoer said he expects both players to return.
“I believe you’re going to see them both play in the second round, but I don’t know if it’s going to be Game 1 or Game 3 or Game 5,” he said. “We’ll have a little better idea as we get closer.”
Got a tip? Email Rebekah Morr at rmorr@kera.org.
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