The Dallas Stars are moving on thanks to a third-period explosion in Game 7 against Colorado on Saturday night. Dallas won the game 4-2 after scoring four unanswered goals in the final 20 minutes, dispatching the Avalanche and winning their third playoff series in three years.
When Nathan MacKinnon scored 31 seconds into the third, all signs pointed to Colorado being on track to win a Game 7 on the road. But instead, that moment only ignited the Stars as they refused to give up.
Then, about eight minutes after MacKinnon’s goal, Mikko Rantanen found the back of the net and got Dallas on the board. Rantanen would score two more times, completing the hat trick with an empty-netter in the closing seconds of the game.
Wyatt Johnson also scored his third goal of the playoffs, which became the game-winner, and the Stars managed to flip the game and their entire season around in about 10 minutes.
The victory now puts Dallas one more series win away from reaching the Western Conference Final for the third straight year. They now await the winner of the NHL’s second Game 7 of the weekend when the Blues look to steal the series in Winnipeg on Sunday night.
And no matter who ends up matching up with the Stars, Dallas fans have every reason to be confident their team can win another round.
If it’s the Jets, the Stars would be tested against the Presidents’ Trophy winners. But at the same time, Connor Hellebuyck has been following up a season that may result in his third Vezina Trophy as the league’s best goaltender with another rough postseason. Hellebuyck has allowed 23 goals through six games so far, letting in five or more three times.
Hellebuyck could find a groove, but an offense like Dallas could just as easily take advantage of a struggling goalie.
If St. Louis finishes off the upset, the Stars would face a team they owned throughout the regular season. Dallas has outscored St. Louis and has won three of their four matchups.
So even though most didn’t predict Dallas to win the conference before the playoffs, there’s now a clear path for the Stars to embark on another deep postseason run. The pressure will also start to mount on Dallas if it keeps winning.
Despite back-to-back Western Conferences to this point, the Stars were 0-2 in those series and have not reached the Stanley Cup Final since 2020.
Going back to the Minnesota North Stars days, the franchise has reached the conference finals 13 times and the Stanley Cup Final five times, yet has only won one championship in 1999.
