Mikko Rantanen's third-period hat trick propels Stars past Avs in Game 7

Mikko Rantanen had a hat trick and an assist to help the Dallas Stars rally for a 4-2 win against the visiting Colorado Avalanche in Game 7 of their first-round series Saturday.

Dallas advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and will face the winner of the Winnipeg Jets-St. Louis Blues series.

Matt Duchene had two assists and Jake Oettinger made 25 saves for the Stars. Dallas coach Pete DeBoer improved to 9-0 for his career in Game 7s.

Josh Manson and Nathan MacKinnon scored for the Avalanche. Mackenzie Blackwood made 15 saves.

Down by two in the third period, Rantanen cut the deficit in half at 7:49. He cut to the middle just inside the blue line, holding the puck before wiring a wrister from the slot past Blackwood's blocker.

Rantanen tied it at 2 on the power play at 13:46. He collected the puck in the neutral zone, carried it up the middle, powering around Ryan Lindgren inside the zone and then looping around the net for a wraparound that went off the skate of Samuel Girard and into the net.

Wyatt Johnston took a cross-crease pass from Duchene and snapped it by Blackwood's blocker side on the power play to make it 3-2 Dallas at 16:04.

Rantanen completed the hat trick with an empty-net goal at 19:57 for the 4-2 final.

MacKinnon put Colorado ahead 2-0 on a delayed penalty just 31 seconds into the third. MacKinnon, who jumped on as the extra attacker, took a feed from Lindgren at the right point and carried it down the right side before cutting the net and snapping under Oettinger's right arm.

Manson scored short-handed to give Colorado a 1-0 lead at 9:50 of the second period. Logan O'Connor created a turnover in the defensive zone and won a race to the puck at the other end, spinning around at the half wall for a centering pass to Manson, who fired a wrist shot from the slot over Oettinger's left pad that hit the post and bounced off Oettinger and into the net.

--Field Level Media