Kiviranta’s hat trick sends Stars to Western Conference FInal

Posted on by

In Edmonton, on Friday afternoon, drama and emotion showed up at the Stanley Cup Playoffs.The National Hockey League has accomplished much in the #ReturnToPlay format and effort.

The one thing that has been missing is a sense of urgency, to play, to succeed and win.

Friday’s match was a Game 7 between the Colorado Avalanche and the Dallas Stars who were seemingly set to advance days.  The Avs rallied and forced the ultimate game.

The stage was set and no one should feel disappointed as Joel Kiviranta  scored the last three Dallas goals in the game, including the game-winner at 7:24 of extra time for a 5-4 win to advance to the Western Conference Final.

“This is the moment you dream about when you are a young kid,” Kiviranta said. “Today was the day I played the first Game 7 in my life, and I didn’t kinow what to expect. It was just a normal hockey game for me.”

https://www.nhl.com/video/t-318694988/c-5412506

https://www.nhl.com/video/t-318694988/c-5412506

Anton Khudobin made 40 saves to get the win.

“Maybe their [defense] just lost me a little bit and they didn’t know who was picking me up,” Kiviranta said. “Tried to find a soft spot, and just a great pass.”

Alexander Radulov had two goals for the Stars including a marker to tie the game at 3-3.

“It’s a Game 7. It doesn’t matter who goes out there,” Radulov said. “I’ll take it, but it doesn’t matter who’s scoring. What matters is we move on and win the series. That’s the big thing for us.”

Kiviranta’s regulation goals tied the game at 2-2 and 4-4; the goals were his first career NHL playoff goals.

“Did I expect a hat trick? No,” Stars head coach Rick Bowness said. “If I was a smart coach I’d have had him in a lot earlier, clearly. … There’s a pretty good chance he’ll be in the lineup for next game.”

Vladislav Namestnikov struck for two goals for the Avs.

“We talk about the timely goals they scored tonight that kept them in the game,” Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar said. “I thought they did a real nice job of just keep coming at us, coming at us. In the end they earned themselves the right to advance.”

Nazem Kadri and Andre Burakovsky added single markers in the loss for Colorado.

Dallas waits for the winner of Game 7 between the Vegas Golden Knights and the Vancouver Canucks, to be played Friday evening in Edmonton.

Michael Hutchinson made 31 saves in the loss.

Nathan McKinnon’s point streak ended at 14 games in the loss.

“I know it’s not the Cup Final or anything, but we felt like we could win and I still feel like we could have won. It’s just unfortunate,” MacKinnon said. “I would have liked to see our team fully healthy, that’s for sure. Lost a lot of key guys. That’s the way it is. You can call it an excuse or whatever you want, but that’s just the way it is. We lost a lot of key guys to our team.”