First Shift 🏒
Pete DeBoer is 8-0 in Game 7’s in his career, and there might be a good reason for that.
The Stars’ coach takes a no-nonsense approach to these things and on Friday made it clear that he won’t be playing any head games regarding his injured players, winger Jason Robertson and defenseman Miro Heiskanen.
“I’m going to put this to bed now, neither of them is playing [in Game 7],” DeBoer said after a long travel day from Denver on Friday. “We’ve got the lineup that we’ve got and we’re comfortable with that. We’ve got to go out and show, like we have all series, that we’re bigger than two players.”
DeBoer calls Robertson “arguably our best offense player,” and referred to Heiskanen as “one of the best defensemen in the world.” Heiskanen has been out with a knee injury he sustained on Jan. 25 against the Vegas Golden Knights when a falling Mark Stone’s helmet struck his knee. Robertson was hurt in the final regular-season game against Nashville and has been rehabbing a lower body injury throughout the playoffs. Both have been skating, and Heiskanen has looked close at times. That would allow DeBoer to play mind games by hiding information, but he seems to believe a straight-forward approach is better.
After all, Dallas has pushed a very good Colorado team to Game 7 with both players missing, so they definitely have the ability to win Game 7 and advance to the Second Round. Dallas lost Game 1 at American Airlines Center, won Games 2 and 3, got blown out in Game 4 in Denver, came back and won Game 5 in Dallas, and then lost a very competitive Game 6 in Denver. The Avalanche had a 2-0 lead in the first period, the Stars came back and took a 4-3 lead in the second, and then Colorado got a fluky goal to go up 5-4 and added two empty-net goals in an eventual 7-4 win.
Bottom line, there has been a lot of back and forth in this series, and both teams have flexed their muscles at time. Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon has 10 points (6 goals, 4 assists) in 6 games and leads a talented team that is averaging 3.67 goals per game (6th) and 35.7 shots on goal (2nd). Dallas averages 2.63 goals per game (12th) and 27.8 shots on goal (8th).
“I think you learn every time you play a team, things that work, things that don’t work,” DeBoer said of the series with this familiar rival. “Listen, they’re a really good team and we’ve been off a little bit, energy wise or detail wise, they can overwhelm you. And when those things have been in place, we’ve been more than competitive, so I’m excited about Game 7.”
DeBoer is 8-0 in his career in Game 7s. Colorado coach Jared Bednar is 0-3. However, DeBoer said that doesn’t matter.
“Honestly, Jared Bednar and I are not going to have a big impact on this game,” DeBoer said. “The players know each other, it’s who goes out and executes and gets big games from the right guys.”
The Stars in their past two games have received strong performances from Rantanen and Hintz on a line with Mikael Granlund. Rantanen, who played more than a decade with the Avalanche before getting traded this year, has 8 points (2 goals, 6 assists) in 6 games, while Hintz has 7 (4 goals, 3 assists). That was huge in a big Game 5 win at home and it kept the Stars in a scrappy Game 6 performance. DeBoer said that kind of momentum can carry over.
“Game 4 was a disaster, but I thought [in Game 5], we were competitive, and in a tough spot,” DeBoer said. “Down 2-0 in that environment, I thought our guys really battled hard. It didn’t end up the way we wanted it to, a missed opportunity with the lead in the third period, but they have something to say about that, and they’re a really good team.”
DeBoer also says the Stars are a good team, and that’s why they have home ice in Game 7.
“You work for that all year,” the coach said. “There was a lot of work put into that during the season. I’m proud of our group in the adversity that they have battled, that they’re in this position and have this opportunity.”
Dallas has some great experience in recent Game 7s. The Stars beat Vegas last season and Seattle the year before. Goalie Jake Oettinger is 2-1 with a .956 save percentage. That should help the 26-year-old netminder on Saturday.
“We’ve all been there before,” Oettinger said. “We know what we have to do to beat these guys and we know what we do when they run it up on us. We’ve got to play the right way if we want a chance to win.”
