National Hockey League
Dallas 5, Colorado 4
When: 4:00 PM ET, Friday, September 4, 2020
Where: Rogers Place, Edmonton, Alberta
Referees: Steve Kozari, Kelly Sutherland
Linesmen: Scott Cherrey, Kiel Murchison
Attendance: 0

Joel Kiviranta scored the Game 7 overtime winner to compete his hat trick and the Dallas Stars claimed a 5-4 victory over the Colorado Avalanche on Friday in Edmonton to advance to the Western Conference final for the first time since 2008.

Kiviranta -- a rookie who was in the lineup because Andrew Cogliano was unable to play -- netted his third of the game at 7:24 of the extra period when he one-timed a shot from the slot to end a wild affair.

Anton Khudobin, the Dallas backup goalie who was pressed into action because starter Ben Bishop was hurt, made 40 saves in the win.

It is the second consecutive season the Avalanche have been knocked out of the Stanley Cup playoffs via Game 7 in the second round. They were upended by the San Jose Sharks last season.

Needing a quick start after seeing their 3-1 series lead disappear, the Stars received an early boost when Alexander Radulov opened the scoring with a power-play goal just 159 seconds into the clash. But Avalanche stormed back to take the lead before the midway point of the opening frame.

Colorado's Vladislav Namestnikov tied the game 69 seconds later when he deflected Ian Cole's point shot. Then, Andre Burakovsky, who was moved to the top line with captain Gabriel Landeskog out of action due to injury, intercepted Jamie Oleksiak's clearing attempt before he ripped a top-corner shot at 9:43. Burakovsky has now scored nine goals in 13 games when facing elimination and four times in Game 7 clashes.

That was just the beginning of the back-and-forth. Kiviranta tied the score by deflecting a shot from the point at 3:06 of the second period, but Nazem Kadri restored Colorado's lead at 3-2 with a power-play goal on a rebound tally at 5:45 of the frame.

Radulov evened the score again with another power-play goal as he deflected John Klingberg's point shot at 11:28 of the third period. That was only to see Namestnikov reply with another rebound goal with 3:40 left on the clock.

Kiviranta's heroic day continued when he scored his second goal of the game 10 seconds later to force overtime. During a scramble, Kiviranta pounced on a loose puck and ripped the shot off the far post and into the cage.

Michael Hutchinson, Colorado's third-string goalie, made 30 saves.

On top of being without Landeskog, the Avalanche were also without their top two goalies in Philipp Grubauer and Pavel Francouz, defensemen Erik Johnson and Conor Timmins and a pair of forwards in Joonas Donskoi and Matt Calvert.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
 
Dallas   Colorado
Joel Kiviranta 3 Points Vladislav Namestnikov 2
Joel Kiviranta 3 Goals Vladislav Namestnikov 2
Miro Heiskanen 2 Assists Andre Burakovsky 1
Alexander Radulov 2 Power Play Goals Nazem Kadri 1
N/A Short Handed Goals N/A
Anton Khudobin .909 Save Percentage Michael Hutchinson .857
Anton Khudobin 40 Saves Michael Hutchinson 30
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Shots Goals Power Play Penalty Kill Penalty Mins Face Offs Won
Dallas 35 5 2-2 3-4 8 39
Colorado 44 4 1-4 0-2 4 31