05/04/25 10:22:00
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05/04 22:21 CDT Mikko Rantanen carries Stars into second round, when they could
get back Heiskanen and Robertson
Mikko Rantanen carries Stars into second round, when they could get back
Heiskanen and Robertson
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
DALLAS (AP) --- Mikko Rantanen carried the Dallas Stars past his former team in
the first round of the NHL playoffs, punctuated with a hat trick that was part
of his historic four-point third period in Game 7.
Now the Stars could soon be getting back two players who were part of their
deep runs the past two postseasons before Rantanen was acquired in a deadline
trade in March and promptly signed a $96 million, eight-year contract extension.
Top defenseman Miro Heiskanen and prolific forward Jason Robertson, their
leading goal scorer in the regular season, missed the seven-game series against
Colorado because of lower-body injuries.
Heiskanen hasn't played since Jan. 28, and Robertson got hurt in the
regular-season finale 2 1/2 weeks ago. Both are experienced 25-year-old players.
"I consider them both day to day now but, you know, there's still some
hurdles," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said after their 4-2 series-clinching win
over Colorado on Saturday night. "I believe you're going to see them both play
in the second round. I don't know whether it's going to be Game 1, Game 3 or
Game 5."
Dallas has now won a Game 7 in each of DeBoer's first three postseasons, and
made it to the Western Conference Final each of the past two.
The Stars will open the second round at top-seeded Winnipeg on Wednesday. The
Jets scored twice in the final 1:56 of regulation in their Game 7 on Sunday
night, then beat St. Louis 4-3 on Adam Lowry's deflection 16:10 into the second
overtime.
Rantanen had only one assist in the first four games against Colorado before 11
points (five goals, six assists) the rest of the series. That scoring output
set a Stars franchise record for any three-game postseason stretch, and made
him the first player in NHL history --- playoffs and regular season combined
--- to have consecutive games with four-point periods.
He was only the second NHL player to have four points in the third period of a
Game 7. He also is the only one of nine players with a Game 7 hat trick to
score all his goals in the final period.
"You can't write it up any better than that," Stars goalie Jake Oettinger said.
"A guy comes over and knocks out his old team, puts the team on his back, and
one of the best individual performances I've seen in the playoffs in my life."
Rantanen had 101 points (34 goals, 67 assists) in 81 playoff games for the
Avalanche the past seven seasons, including their 2022 Stanley Cup run.
While it was often pointed out that those impressive numbers came when playing
with Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar in that stretch, they were on the opposite
side for Rantanen's postseason debut with the Stars.
"I think he answered that question," DeBoer said. "I've had a lot of playoff
runs and I haven't had a player string together the three games he's strung
together --- Games 5, 6 and 7 --- how dominant he's been shift to shift."
With Rantanen already doing that, and the pending return of Heiskanen (61
points in 85 playoff games) and Robertson (38 points in 45 playoff games),
Dallas certainly has every reason to feel confident moving forward. The Stars
just beat a division rival that outscored them 24-21 and outshot them by nearly
eight a game.
"I have a hard time believing that there's any team that's much better than
Colorado out there," said Oettinger, who is 3-1 in Game 7s.
"There's something special going on," said DeBoer, the first NHL coach or
player be part of nine Game 7 victories. "It sure doesn't feel like we've only
won one round. We're just getting started, but that was an absolute gauntlet of
a series."
Wyatt Johnston, who will turn 22 during the second round, scored the go-ahead
goal Saturday night on a power play with 3:56 left. He has a goal in all three
of his Game 7s over three seasons, with the series-clinching tally in each of
his past two to become the first NHL player with multiple winners at 22 or
younger.
"We have such a great group and I think we have so much confidence in our team
that we can beat anyone, and it's great to go against a team that's one of the
best teams in the league in Colorado," Johnston said. "I think as a group, we
have that confidence that we can win any series against anyone."
___
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and
https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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