DALLAS - Mikko Rantanen held the puck down low for what seemed like an entire shift before he chose his spot. When he finally shot, at 3:52 of overtime Tuesday night, the Dallas Stars had a 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins and Rantanen owned every one of their goals.
The winner was a power-play backhand past Jeremy Swayman's glove after Miro Heiskanen found him on the left side of the net. It snapped Boston's five-game winning streak and gave Dallas (5-3-1) its third victory in a row.
"The last one he held on to for I think 60 seconds before he made his move," Stars coach Glen Gulutzan said, according to NHL.com. "He made some plays tonight. He was all over it."
Never in front until the end
Dallas trailed for most of the night. Matthew Poitras scored for Boston 2:09 after the opening faceoff, and Rantanen evened it early in the second period by burying a rebound after Jason Robertson poked at the puck. James Hagens put the Bruins back ahead at 7:30 of the second, tipping a Casey Mittelstadt feed over Jake Oettinger's pad.
Boston smothered the third period. The Bruins allowed only two Dallas shots on goal in the frame, NHL.com noted, and one of them tied the game. With 6:22 left in regulation, a Roope Hintz attempt from close range struck Charlie McAvoy and bounced to Rantanen in the right circle, and he snapped it to the near side.
Overtime nearly ended sooner. Swayman stopped Wyatt Johnston on two breakaways roughly 10 seconds apart, The Associated Press reported. A Boston penalty then put Dallas on a 4-on-3 advantage, and Rantanen took it from there.
He finished with three goals on six shots in 22:12 of ice time, ESPN's box score shows. Robertson assisted on the first and last goals, and Oettinger made 18 saves while the penalty kill kept Boston scoreless on four power plays.
"It helps when you get a goal in the second," Rantanen said, per NHL.com. "You start to feel the puck a little bit better and more confidence. But it starts with the legs."
