Rantanen leads Stars offense, netting goal and assist, while tangling with Kings' Kuemper in a 4-1 win.
Mikko Rantanen was as involved as ever Monday night in the Dallas Stars 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings, posting a goal and an assist and also knocking Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper out of the game in the first period.
In a battle of goaltenders with almost identical (and impressive) stats, Kuemper and DeSmith both proved they were up to the task early in a scoreless first period. However, Kuemper's night ended when Rantanen was propelled into the crease, causing a blow to the head area of his former Avalanche teammate. No penalty was called on the play, and a goal that went off of Kuemper and into the net after he had sprawled out on the ice in discomfort was also waved off.
Anton Forsberg came into the game for Los Angeles and dazzled with some excellent saves early on to keep the Stars scoreless streak going at over five periods long, dating back to the Wild game last Thursday.
The Kings opened the scoring with a botched miscommunication between DeSmith and Miro Heiskanen, and Andrei Kuzmenko was able to tap in one of the easiest goals of his career. DeSmith had the puck in control in front of the net on a 5-on-3 penalty kill, but indecisively left the puck for Heiskanen rather than attempting a clear himself. Heiskanen misjudged the play and skated past the puck, leaving Kuzmenko with nothing left to do but tap the puck off DeSmith's stick and through his legs for the goal.
After the unfortunate 1-0 lead was surrendered by the Stars, Rantanen took over with a no-look pass to Matt Duchene to tie the game. It was Duchene's second goal of the season and was the first time since his return from an extended absence where he looked truly dangerous.
With the third period beginning with a 1-1 tie, Dallas went to work and beat Forsberg with a tip-in from Oskar Back, which was also his second goal of the season, to break the tie and take the lead for the first time in two home games against Los Angeles this season.
Then, as time neared for the Kings to pull Forsberg and give one final push with six attackers, Rantanen took matters into his own hands. He thundered into the offensive zone, deked past Kevin Fiala and slotted a low shot between the pads of Forsberg for a clinching third goal. It was yet another late third period goal from Rantanen that will end up on the highlight reel for the season.
Wyatt Johnston added an empty net goal to seal the final score at 4-1. DeSmith had yet another excellent performance, finishing with 27 saves on 28 shots.
News and notes:
Dallas snapped their long shutout streak at just over 93 minutes with Duchene's tally in the second period.
The Stars had 12 shots in the third period against the Kings. It was the first time Dallas had recorded double-digit shots in a single period since the third period against San Jose on Dec. 5.
Dallas recorded over 20 shots for the first time in the last four games, dating back to Dec. 7 against Pittsburgh, where they recorded 23. The Stars have not recorded 30 shots on goal since their 8-3 win over Edmonton on Nov. 25.
Back's third period goal was the first goal he had scored since his first shot on goal of the season. He scored on a tipped shot against Nashville in his season debut on Oct. 26.
Johnston had not scored a goal since recording a hat trick against Ottawa on Nov. 30.
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