Now that the homecoming for Mikko Rantanen is over, the Dallas Stars can get back to focusing on playoff positioning.
The Stars are scheduled to host the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday evening, two days after losing 4-3 in overtime to the Colorado Avalanche.
It was Rantanen’s first game back in Denver since the high-scoring winger was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in January while in the middle of his 10th season with the Avalanche, and then dealt to Dallas on March 7.
“I’m sure he’s glad that game’s in the rearview mirror and we can move forward here,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. “I’m proud of how he handled it, I’m proud of how he played against (Colorado), considering the circumstances, and he’s just going to get better and better for us.”
Rantanen has two goals and two assists in four games with the Stars, who are 1-2-1 since acquiring him.
He earned an assist on the first goal of the game against the Avalanche, winning a puck battle on the end boards and passing it to the front of the net.
“He created that goal,” DeBoer said. “That was a forecheck goal. He created the play and that’s what he’s here for.”
Dallas (42-21-3, 87 points) scored two goals 20 seconds apart with just under five minutes left in the third period against Colorado to tie the score and send the game to overtime. The Stars surrendered the game-winning goal 34 seconds into overtime, but still earned a valuable point that kept them two points ahead of Colorado for second place in the Central Division.
The second-place team in each division hosts the third-place team in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
“It should be great, but I’m worried about the next three weeks here,” DeBoer said when asked about a potential playoff meeting against the Avalanche. “I’m not worried about the playoffs right now.”
The Ducks (29-31-7, 65 points) have been on the fringe of joining the wild-card race in the Western Conference. But they’ve sustained a series of missed opportunities this month, beginning with a 6-3 loss to the visiting Chicago Blackhawks on March 1, which would have moved the Ducks within four points of the final wild-card spot.
Most recently, Anaheim had a window to move back within six points of a playoff spot, but lost 7-2 at the St. Louis Blues on Sunday to open the three-game road trip.
The Ducks have been unable to string two wins together since a four-game winning streak that bridged the two-week break for the 4 Nations Face-Off last month.
“We’ve got to come out ready moving forward,” Ducks rookie winger Cutter Gauthier said.
An upper-body injury to left wing Robby Fabbri late last month opened a spot for Sam Colangelo to be recalled from AHL affiliate San Diego. He responded by scoring five goals in a four-game goal streak before an upper-body injury sidelined him the past two games.
Anaheim then recalled Nikita Nesterenko from San Diego to fill Colangelo’s spot on a line with Gauthier and Mason McTavish, and Nesterenko scored against St. Louis.
Ducks coach Greg Cronin said Nesterenko brings more speed to an already fast line.
“I thought they were really solid throughout the (St. Louis) game,” Cronin said. “They had several other chances as well, so it was really the only line we had going.”
–Field Level Media
