Stars GM Jim Nill made the best move of the trade deadline. If there was any doubt, it proved to be true Saturday night.
Former Colorado Avalanche superstar Mikko Rantanen put his new team on his back, scoring three third-period goals as the Stars won 4-2 in Game 7 to advance to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Trailing 2-0 early in the third period, Rantanen scored twice to tie the score with just over six minutes remaining. Wyatt Johnston next scored the game-winner on the power play, and Rantanen added an empty-netter to complete the hat trick.
Related:Mikko Magic: Rantanen leads Stars’ frantic comeback to eliminate his former team
The Stars will face the winner of Sunday’s Game 7 between the Winnipeg Jets and St. Louis Blues.
Here are five thoughts from the Stars’ season-saving comeback win:
Rantanen’s storybook finish
Rantanen never wanted to leave Colorado. He made that abundantly clear when his team of a decade traded him to Carolina in January. He lasted just a few weeks with the Hurricanes before Nill brought him to Dallas just hours before the trade deadline, signing him to an eight-year extension sight unseen.
Rantanen made sure his former team knew Saturday night that trading him was a mistake.
Rantanen scored two goals for the Stars just under six minutes apart in the third period to tie the score and give his team a chance to win. He added a third into an empty net for his first hat trick in victory green.
The first came as Rantanen did it himself, going top shelf from the slot to get his team on the board. Minutes later, he put the team on his back again, scoring on a wraparound on the power play that bounced off Samuel Girard’s skate and in.
Only Colorado players were in the vicinity on the second goal.
Rantanen finished with five goals and seven assists for the series lead in points.
Johnston comes up big
Wyatt Johnston knows a thing or two about Game 7-winning goals.
Despite being just 21 years old, the Dallas forward has scored two series-clinching goals in Game 7s.
He did it in Seattle two seasons ago, becoming the youngest player to score a series-clinching goal in a Game 7, and he did it once again Saturday night.
Colorado’s Jack Drury was called for a holding penalty against Tyler Seguin with under five minutes remaining in regulation. Less than 20 seconds into the power play, Johnston scored on a cross-crease pass from Matt Duchene.
Johnston had three goals and four assists in the series for Dallas.
A perfect record preserved
Stars coach Pete DeBoer is now the winningest person in NHL history in Game 7s.
He was tied with head coach Darryl Sutter and seven skaters with eight wins. But his victory Saturday night puts him atop the league record with nine. He also has never lost a Game 7.
The Stars felt comfortable heading into Game 7, as the home team wins 58.6% of the time, and Dallas had won its last two under DeBoer.
But the team that scores first wins 75.8% of the time, and Colorado claimed that advantage in the second period Saturday.
But Dallas surged back furiously in the third period to keep DeBoer’s record perfect.
Colorado has now lost its last seven Game 7s, including four to the Stars.
Special teams continues to tell story
The team that wins the special-teams battle often wins the series.
That was, again, the story in Game 7.
The Stars scored two power-play goals just over two minutes apart in the third period, one by Rantanen to tie and one by Johnston to gain the lead.
Meanwhile, Dallas held Colorado 0-for-3 on the power play, including a four-minute double minor after a Jamie Benn high-sticking call in the first period.
The Avalanche scored their first goal shorthanded, and it felt like that could decide the series. But the Stars made it a moot point with their third-period comeback.
Playoff format needs to be studied
Simply put: Neither of these teams deserved to be eliminated in the first round.
Pundits across the league predicted the team that survived this series would go on to win the Western Conference. Based on the first two weeks of playoff action, that still seems like a possible outcome.
The NHL’s playoff format is division-centric, and the Stars and Avalanche competed in the league’s toughest division this year.
Many, including players across the league, are advocating for the NHL to switch to a 1-8 format. The Stars-Avs series could prompt further discussions about that in the offseason.
Playoff pandemonium: See photos as Stars complete season-saving comeback at AAC
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