Dallas Stars rookie Denis Gurianov of Russia celebrates the third of his four goals in the Stars' NHL playoff series-clinching 7-3 victory over the Calgary Flames. GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/JEFF VINNICK
It was a stunning rally from a Stars team that surrendered three goals before attempting a shot on goal themselves, and gave Dallas a 4-2 victory in the best-of-seven series against the Flames in the NHL’s Western Conference playoff hub in Edmonton.
In Toronto, the New York Islanders booked an Eastern Conference second-round berth with a 4-0 victory over the Washington Capitals, winning their series 4-1.
The Stars booked a second-round clash with the Colorado Avalanche, while the Islanders’ next opponent was yet to be decided.
Momentum began to shift for the Islanders after Flames forward Milan Lucic took a goaltender interference penalty — shoving a starts defender into Anton Khudobin.
The Stars took advantage with a goal from Miro Heiskanen late in the first.
Gurianov scored less than a minute into the second period and added his second at 3:25 of the second.
Following another Lucic penalty for delay of game Radek Faska scored to give the Stars their first lead of the contest.
Joe Pavelski scored before Gurianov completed his first Stanley Cup playoffs hat trick on a 1-on-1 to put Dallas up 6-3 at 15:30 of the second.
Gurianov capped the scoring at 9:02 of the third.
“Tonight was awesome for him,” Pavelski said of Russian rookie Gurianov. “It was fun to see. He’s one of those guys you can give the puck to and there’s moments in the night that he’ll do the rest.”
Heiskanen finished with four points on his goal and three assists.
Calgary had scored three goals on their first eight shots, with Andrew Mangiapane, Johnny Gaudreau and Rasmus Andersson giving them a quick lead.
From there Stars goalie Anton Khudobin stopped the last 34 shots he faced.
In Toronto, Anthony Beauvillier scored twice and Semyon Varlamov made 21 saves for the Islanders.
Josh Bailey had a goal and two assists for New York.
“It’s a great win for us, we’re obviously happy to move on,” Bailey said. “You turn the page. We’ll enjoy it tonight, but I think everyone realizes there’s still a long way to go. We’re going to have a tough opponent, no matter who it is.”
The Capitals have now been eliminated in the first round in two straight seasons since winning the Stanley Cup in 2018.
Barry Trotz took over as Islanders coach after guiding the Capitals to that title.
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