Third-period goals 49 seconds apart by Alexander Petrovic and Mikko Rantanen sparked the host Dallas Stars to a 5-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets in Sunday’s Game 3 of their Stanley Cup playoff series.
Rantanen continued his torrid spree with a one-goal, two-assist outing for the Stars, who hold a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals series.
“It’s the best performance I’ve got to witness standing where I’m standing with a guy on my team for this extended of a period,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “For me, he’s just getting started. He’s just warming up. I think he’s on a mission.”
Roope Hintz and Thomas Harley each collected one goal and one assist for Dallas. Wyatt Johnston added an insurance goal and goaltender Jake Oettinger made 23 saves.
Game 4 will be Tuesday in Dallas.
Kyle Connor and Nino Niederreiter replied for the Jets, who forged a 2-2 tie through 40 minutes but remain without a road win in this year’s playoffs. Goalie Connor Hellebuyck stopped 21 shots in another disappointing road performance.
Teams that claim a 2-1 lead in a best-of-seven series have an all-time record of 391-177 (.688) in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Dallas will look to continue that trend after breaking open a tied clash in a wild turn of events.
Petrovic gave Dallas its third lead of the game at 3:51 of the third period with a controversial goal. Petrovic kicked the puck toward the net and it banked off Hellebuyck’s stick and into the net. After a lengthy review, it was ruled a goal.
“There’s no excuses. We had to be ready to play whether it was short or long (review),” Connor said. “It was a big momentum changer, they were able to get that one and scored the next shift.”
Indeed, Rantanen made it a 4-2 game 49 seconds later — burying a shot after going across the slot – to record his seventh goal in four games and ninth in six outings. He leads all players in goals with nine and points (18) during the playoffs.
“I’m trying to stay in the moment,” Rantanen said. “I’m happy to help the team and will try to keep doing that as much as I can at both ends of the ice.”
Johnston rounded out the scoring 10 minutes later by cashing in a rebound chance.
Until that point, it was an even game in which the Stars twice staked leads only to watch them evaporate. Hintz opened the scoring with a power-play goal at the 2:27 mark when he redirected a shot while parked in the slot.
Connor tied the clash at 9:53 of the opening frame with a wraparound he was able to tuck home just inside the post.
Harley again put Dallas ahead at 15:12 of the first period with a perfectly placed shot coming with a golden chance from the slot.
However, Niederreiter made it a 2-2 game at 10:07 of the second period with a seeing-eye, sharp-angled offering from the bottom of the right circle.
“They came into our building and took home-ice (advantage) away from us,” Jets coach Scott Arniel said. “We’ve got to win here. So, everything we have’s going to be pushed into Game 4 here to get this thing evened up going back into our building.”
–Field Level Media
