Joel Kiviranta had the most unlikely of all the goals in a wild playoff series between Dallas and Colorado, sending the Stars further than they have been in 12 years.
Three of them for the rookie came in a thrilling Game 7, including the winner in overtime.
Kiviranta, in his only game during the series, completed a hat track 7 minutes, 24 seconds into overtime to give Dallas a 5-4 victory Friday in Game 7 in Edmonton and send the Stars to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2008. They will face Vegas.
"Pretty unreal. This is what you dream about when you're a young kid," Kiviranta said. "I played the first Game 7 of my life. I didn't know what to expect. ... Maybe their D just lost me a little bit. They didn't know who was picking me up. I tried to find a soft spot. It was a great pass."
Kiviranta moved away from the crease just before his quick shot on a pass from defenseman Andrej Sekera from behind the net. Kiviranta was playing only his third postseason game, with Andrew Cogliano unfit to play, after scoring once in 11 regular-season games.
"To tell you that we practiced Andrej behind their offensive net making those saucer passes, no, that has not been at our practice plan and our playing drills," Stars interim coach Rick Bowness said. "I'm glad he knew he was behind the offensive net and not our net, where he normally is with the puck. That's overtime hockey. And that's bubble hockey. You just don't know what to expect and you kind of roll with it."
The Avalanche, which also lost in Game 7 of last season's conference semis, was trying to get to its first conference final since 2002, and forced Game 7 after being down 3-1. Third-string goalie Michael Hutchinson, who had never started a playoff game before winning consecutive elimination games, couldn't make one more save after 31 on Friday.
Vegas 3, Vancouver 0: Shea Theodore broke a scoreless tie for the Golden Knights with 6:08 remaining in Game 7, after 98 consecutive saves by Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko. Alex Tuch and Paul Stastny added empty-net goals, and the Golden Knights advanced to the conference finals for the second time in three years. Robin Lehner had his third shutout of the series; his sensational glove save on Brock Boeser in the second period kept the game scoreless. Vancouver missed a chance when it failed to convert on a 5-minute power play after Ryan Reaves was ejected late in the second period for a hit to the head of Tyler Motte.
