The Dallas Stars rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 in Game 7 Saturday night, advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Mikko Rantanen scored a third-period hat trick against his former team and added an assist for his second four-point game of the series.
Rantanen won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022 before being traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in January, ending his 10-year tenure with the Avalanche.
“Emotional, they’re my brothers,” he told ESPN’s Emily Kaplan about the post-game handshake line. “I still love every one of them. Obviously, we were enemies in this series on the ice, but they’re my dear friends off the ice.”
Colorado took a 2-0 lead after Nathan MacKinnon scored in the first minute of the third period. Rantanen responded with two goals before Wyatt Johnston scored the game-winner on the power play with less than four minutes remaining.
Johnston has now scored in all three Game 7s of his career.
“There was no quit at any point,” said Rantanen, who completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal. “Obviously they get a goal first shift of the third, but we just kept going. There was still chatter on the bench, we knew we had to earn a couple bounces and we did. Big win, so I’m happy for the group.”
Jake Oettinger stopped 25 of 27 shots in net for Dallas. He saved 1.68 goals above expected at all strengths, according to Natural Stat Trick.
The Stars became the first team in Stanley Cup Playoffs history to trail by multiple goals in the final period of a Game 7 and win in regulation, per OptaSTATS.
Colorado initially took the lead when defenseman Josh Manson scored shorthanded midway through the second period. He’s the first defenseman to score a shorthanded goal in a Game 7 in franchise history, according to NHL PR.
Rantanen believes facing Colorado will benefit Dallas moving forward.
“I think it prepares us because it’s only going to get harder,” he said. “How the standings go, sometimes really good teams play in the first round even though maybe they shouldn’t.
“I think it prepares us well, we already have a seven-game series. We know, if another one comes, what to do.”
Stars head coach Pete DeBoer improved to 9-0 all-time in Game 7s. The Avalanche have now lost seven straight Game 7s.
Dallas has reached the Western Conference Final in each of the past two seasons. The Stars acquired Rantanen from the Hurricanes at the trade deadline to strengthen their Stanley Cup pursuit.
Rantanen delivered the first third-period Game 7 hat trick in NHL history.
“This team has been so close a couple years in a row,” Rantanen said. “Hopefully I can help them get even closer.”
The Stars won despite missing top defenseman Miro Heiskanen and leading goal-scorer Jason Robertson.
Dallas will face either the Winnipeg Jets or the St. Louis Blues in the second round. Those teams will play their own Game 7 on Sunday at 7 p.m. ET.
