Harley OT Winner Sends Stars To Conference Final
A power play goal in overtime by Thomas Harley was the difference in a low-scoring but high intensity Game 6 against the Winnipeg Jets, sending the Dallas Stars on to the Western Conference Final for the third straight season.
The power play goal came on the only penalty call of the night, a trip by Mark Scheifele on Sam Steel with less than 30 seconds left in the third period and the game tied 1-1.
The power play had nearly run out - so much so that Cody Ceci had come onto the ice as the second defenseman - but Tyler Seguin found Harley alone in the slot, and Harley fired a wrist shot to the blocker side of Connor Hellebuyck as he was being screened by his own defenseman Dylan Samberg.
Winnipeg opened the scoring in the second period with an emotional goal from Scheifele, who had learned of his father's sudden passing early Saturday morning. The Jets rallied around him, and Scheifele quickly made the decision to play, partly because he said it is what his dad would have wanted.
Dallas had dictated play through the first period, but could not come away with the first goal of the game, and had to weather the storm through the second period, even after giving up goal to Scheifele.
But an unlikely goal scorer in Steel flipped the script with a bar-down shot over Hellebuyck to tie the game 1-1 on his first goal in the postseason. Suddenly, despite Winnipeg's control of play during the second period, the game was tied with all to play for in the third.
Both goaltenders made some unbelievable saves in the final period of regulation, and Hellebuyck dispelled the continuing story of being shaky on the road with a stellar performance. Jake Oettinger made the save of the night, diving across an open net to punch away a shot from Mason Appleton that could have won Winnipeg the game.
It all came down to overtime and the one power play, though, and Dallas converted just before Winnipeg could gain momentum from killing the whole thing off.
Credit to the Stars, who saw a much improved Hellebuyck from the opening round against the St. Louis Blues, and arguably one of his better playoff rounds in his career with the Jets, but still found ways to win. The Jets loss was in no way due to his performance in net, both in the series and in Game 6. He fended off all but two Stars shots, but that was enough to get Dallas the win and the close-out of the series.
The Game 6 win comes exactly a year to the day after closing out Colorado in double overtime in Game 6 of last season's second round. And similarly, Dallas now has to turn their attention to Edmonton in the Western Conference Final for the second year in a row.
Edmonton came into Dallas and won Game 1 of the series last season, but the Stars now move to 6-1 at the American Airlines Center this postseason, a marked improvement from their 4-6 record at home last playoffs.
The series will start in Dallas on Wednesday, giving Dallas a few days to rest up and get ready for the Western Conference Final (albeit a couple days fewer than Edmonton) and a little extra time for Miro Heiskanen to continue getting closer to 100 percent.
Make sure you bookmark THN's Dallas Stars site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.
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