DALLAS (AP) — Mikko Rantanen has gone four games in a row without scoring, which really isn't as bad as it sounds for the Dallas Stars.
That means they are starting to get more points from other players. Dallas won three of those games, including the second-round finale over top-seeded Winnipeg in Game 6, then the opener in the Western Conference final rematch with Edmonton after a franchise playoff-record five goals in the third period. Three of those came on power plays.
“Everyone was talking about our lack of secondary scoring. The last round ... none of our guys were going to have big numbers in the Winnipeg series,” said coach Pete DeBoer, noting the Jets being the league's top defensive team. “I really felt confident that they were going to get going because even in that Winnipeg series, particularly late in that series, Game 6, I started to see some real signs of creating some real chances ... signs we were going to get some production."
The Stars certainly got some chances and production late in the 6-3 victory over Edmonton in Game 1 on Wednesday night. They have the opportunity Friday night to take a 2-0 lead for the first time in 12 playoff series since 2020.
Dallas overcame a multigoal deficit in the third period and won in regulation for the second time this postseason, becoming the first NHL team ever to do that in the same postseason. The Stars' other late comeback was in the first round against Colorado, when Rantanen had a hat trick as part of a four-point third period in Game 7 against his former team.
Matt Duchene finally got his first goal of these playoffs. His tiebreaker against the Oilers was the third consecutive power-play goal in the first six minutes of the third period for Dallas, which was 0 for 14 with a man advantage in a six-game series loss last year.
Esa Lindell also got his first goal. So did Miro Heiskanen, though the standout defenseman played for only the fourth time since Jan. 28. He missed the final 32 regular-season games and first 10 in the playoffs because of left knee surgery.
“Really good for 40 (minutes) and really bad for 20. Ultimately, that’s what it came down to,” Edmonton center Connor McDavid said Thursday. “Where it got away from us, obviously (was) the kill. A two-goal lead in the third, we take a couple penalties, and we’ve got to find a way to get a kill.”
While the Oilers certainly never anticipated to again keep Dallas completely off the board with a man advantage in another long series, they sure didn't expect to give up three in such quick order.
“The more time you defend, the more time you’re in a position to take penalties,” Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said. “When they push, you’re in a position to defend, and you’re getting vulnerable to having to take a stick infraction or any kind of infraction. ... They're a good team 5-on-5, exceptionally well on the power play. We have to make adjustments to one, get better on the penalty kill, but also giving them fewer opportunities."
Still the scoring leader
Rantanen remains the NHL leader this postseason with his nine goals and 20 points, even with only two assists in the past four games.
That followed a remarkable run when he had a part in an NHL-playoff record 13 consecutive goals for a team. He had back-to-back games with four-point periods against Colorado, his former team, then had another three-goal game in the second-round opener against the Jets.
Leon Draisaitl (six goals) and Connor McDavid (three goals), the 100-point teammates in the regular season, both have 19 points in the playoffs. Draisaitl had a goal and two assists in Game 1 against the Stars, while McDavid had two assists.
Going for 2
Dallas has won consecutive Game 1s after an unexplainable stretch of losing eight consecutive series openers since 2022.
Now the Stars can take a 2-0 series lead for the first time since the second round of the 2020 playoffs, when they went on to beat Colorado in six games and made the Stanley Cup Final in the bubble in Canada during that pandemic-impacted season.
The last time the Stars won their first two games at home in a playoff series was 2016 in the first round against Minnesota.
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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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