Rantanen takes the second point Boston thought it had earned

Boston left Dallas with the point it felt it had played well enough to earn, and without the second one. Mikko Rantanen finished a hat trick on the power play at 3:52 of overtime, and the Stars beat the Bruins 3-2 at American Airlines Center. It was his 11th career three-goal game and his first regular-season hat trick since the trade that brought him to Dallas.

The winner was not a one-timer from the circle. NHL.com's Robert Tiffin had Rantanen taking a pass from Miro Heiskanen down low, walking the puck to the net, and beating Jeremy Swayman on the backhand to the glove side. Swayman had already stopped Wyatt Johnston on two breakaways, 10 seconds apart, earlier in the extra period. He finished with 22 saves. Jake Oettinger stopped 18 at the other end.

Rantanen had tied it twice before he won it. His first goal, a snapshot at 2:50 of the second, made it 1-1 after Matt Poitras had scored Boston's opener a little more than two minutes into the game, his fourth of the year and third in four games. James Hagens put the Bruins back in front. With 6:22 left in regulation a Roope Hintz shot deflected off Charlie McAvoy's leg, and Rantanen poked in the loose puck to make it 2-2. Stars coach Glen Gulutzan, asked about those goals, told NHL.com, "Those are big goals." He also said the league does not let you dominate anyone for long. "You've got to play 60 minutes, because the game swings back and forth. The power play came through on the 4-on-3."

Marco Sturm did not argue with the result so much as with the timing. "Deserved definitely a point," the Bruins coach said. "Unfortunate to give up the second point, but looking back, what a great road trip." Boston went 3-0-1 on the trip, seven points out of eight, and the five-game winning streak is over. The Bruins were 0 for 4 on the power play. Dallas came in allowing 1.5 goals a game and has given up one power-play goal on the opponents' last 25 chances. The Stars are 5-3-1 and have won three in a row.