Mikko Rantanen finished his 11th career regular-season hat trick with a power-play goal at 3:52 of overtime, singlehandedly lifting the Dallas Stars to a 3-2 win over the visiting Boston Bruins on Tuesday night.
Rantanen lifted a close-range backhanded shot over Boston goaltender Jeremy Swayman’s shoulder for the game-winner.
Jason Robertson had two assists, including one on the OT goal, and Jake Oettinger made 18 saves for Dallas. The Stars never led in regulation before claiming their third straight win since a 2-3-1 start to the season.
Matt Poitras and James Hagens scored and Swayman made 22 saves for the Bruins, who are unbeaten in regulation over their last six games (5-0-1) and finished a four-game road trip with a 3-0-1 record.
Dallas had a 25-20 advantage in shots, scored the game’s lone power-play goal and went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill.
Swayman denied Wyatt Johnston on two shots off Boston turnovers early in overtime before Dallas drew a power play after Pavel Zacha slashed Thomas Harley at the 2:28 mark.
Two of Boston’s youngsters connected only 2:09 in, as Poitras collected Frederic Brunet’s cross-ice pass and blasted a one-timer from the left circle past Oettinger’s blocker. After Mason Lohrei held the blue line, Tanner Jeannot made the play to Brunet from the middle of the zone.
Oettinger made a partial breakaway save on Zacha early in the second, allowing Dallas to tie the score at 2:50. Rantanen took advantage of a giveaway at the top of the zone and slid down the slot to follow his initial shot after Robertson’s stick created a rebound.
Hagens, who had a golden chance stopped by Oettinger in the first period, lifted the Bruins to a 2-1 lead at 7:30. Casey Mittelstadt jumped onto the ice and drove wide around the net before feeding a perfect wraparound pass to Hagens for a tip-in inside the crease.
The Stars went without a third-period shot until Swayman stopped Tyler Seguin on a power play with 11:32 remaining. Dallas leveled the score with 6:22 left, when Rantanen caught the ricochet of a Roope Hintz shot off Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy’s pads and scored the tying goal from the right circle into the open side of the net.
Meanwhile, Boston was held without a shot for the final 12:43 of regulation as well as all of overtime.