The Associated Press
Mikko Rantanen and Mikael Granlund scored seven of the Dallas Stars’ 13 goals in the second round to move on to the Western Conference final against the Edmonton Oilers, yet that lopsided production was also a red flag.
Three-time Stanley Cup champion Ken Daneyko before the series started figured that needed to change.
“They do have more of a game-breaker with Mikko Rantanen,” Daneyko said. “But the Johnstons and Dadonovs and the Duchenes and Seguin and Benn — whoever — these guys are going to have score some big goals or make a few big plays to beat the Oilers and the depth they have.”
While Tyler Seguin has scored twice, Wyatt Johnston, Evgenii Dadonov, Matt Duchene and Jamie Benn have one goal between them, and now the Stars find themselves down two games to one in the best-of-seven series. They went nearly 100 minutes without scoring on Edmonton’s Stuart Skinner from Games 1 through 3 and went another 24 minutes without a goal on the way to a 6-1 loss Sunday.
With the status of injured center Roope Hintz uncertain after getting slashed in the left foot/ankle by Darnell Nurse in Game 2 badly enough that he was out Sunday and with Rantanen’s playoff-opening magic seemingly wearing off, Dallas needs more offense from its top players to avoid getting pushed to the brink of elimination.
“Five on five we’ve got to find a way to finish our chances a little bit more,” Rantanen told reporters in Edmonton. “Obviously Skinner is making good saves, but we’ve got to make life harder for him.”
Skinner has stopped 80 of the 86 shots he has faced, but he’s not the only netminder to stymie the Stars away from home this postseason. Connor Hellebuyck blanked them in Game 5 last round in Winnipeg, and their scoreless streak on the road lasted a franchise-worst 178:57 before Jason Robertson scored their lone goal Sunday.
The impatience is building.
“It’s something that’s tough when you get so many chances,” said Rantanen, who’s tied for the playoff lead in goals with nine but none so far against the Oilers. “It’s frustrating, and it’s something that it’s hard to not let the frustration come, but we’ve got to do our best to not let it come to our minds.”
Coach Peter DeBoer, in the West final for a sixth time in seven years and aiming to reach the Cup final with a third different NHL team, does not sound frustrated.
“There’s good signs in our game,” DeBoer said in his post-Game 5 news conference. “If we can keep bringing that game to the rink, I like our chances of coming back in this series.”
Robertson scoring his first goal of the playoffs is one of the reasons for optimism. He missed the entire first round against Colorado with injury and is only now starting to look like his regular-season point-a-game self.
DeBoer called Game 5 Robertson’s best since returning.
“There’s no doubt he’s been a step behind since he came back in,” DeBoer said. “We need him. We need that scoring out of him. We haven’t had it.”
Even without depth scoring, Dallas is right there in the series thanks to a barrage of three power-play goals in 5¢ minutes in the third period of Game 1. The Oilers have been the better team at 5 on 5 for long stretches, but the Stars have not wilted under pressure.
“A great trait to have: they can be outplayed, but they’re opportunistic,” said Daneyko, now an NHL Network analyst. “They win games when they’re outplayed. You have to be able to do that in the playoffs.”
Hurricanes still alive
SUNRISE, Fla. — Frederik Andersen returned to the net and stopped 20 shots for his fifth career playoff shutout, Logan Stankoven got the only goal Carolina needed and the Hurricanes won their first Eastern Conference finals game in 20 years by beating the Florida Panthers 3-0 on Monday night to stave off elimination.
Sebastian Aho and Jordan Staal got empty-netters to seal it for the Hurricanes.
