Playing in his first game of the series and just the 14th of his NHL career, Joel Kiviranta scored three times — including the winner at 7:24 of overtime — to give the Dallas Stars a 5-4 victory over the Colorado Avalanche in Game 7 of their Stanley Cup Playoff series on Friday afternoon.
Kiviranta spent most of the 2019-20 season with the AHL’s Texas Stars, recording 12 goals and 11 assists for 23 points in 48 contests. He made his NHL debut with Dallas on Jan. 3, 2020, and totaled one goal in 11 regular-season outings with the parent club.
The 24-year-old from Vantaa, Finland, played one round-robin game for Dallas (Aug. 9 vs. St. Louis) and one first-round game against Calgary (Aug. 20). He became just the seventh player in NHL history to record a hat trick in a Game 7.
Kiviranta was one of seven players in the game who had spent time in the AHL this season, joining Dallas teammates Denis Gurianov and Joel Hanley, as well as Colorado’s Michael Hutchinson, Logan O’Connor, Kevin Connauton and Sheldon Dries.
