USC’s Miller Moss waited patiently for his shot. Now he has it
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Paolo Uggetti, ESPN
MILLER MOSS WAS driving back to Los Angeles from San Diego on Dec. 28 when his phone rang. It was Lincoln Riley.
The 12 hours before that call couldn’t have gone much better for Moss. After spending three years as USC’s backup quarterback — two in Caleb Williams‘ shadow — and only attempting 59 passes, Moss was finally given the chance to take center stage with the NFL-bound Williams opting out of the 2023 DIRECTV Holiday Bowl. Moss didn’t just make the most of his first-ever college start — he made history. The Los Angeles native threw for 372 yards on 33 attempts and a USC bowl-record six touchdowns while leading the Trojans to a 42-28 season-ending win.
“I really just wanted to play freely going into that game,” Moss told ESPN last month. “I didn’t want to have any regrets. Whatever happened, I wanted to go out there and let it rip.”
Adopting that mindset wasn’t easy for Moss. The season was not technically over yet and, in the lead-up to the bowl game, there were already plenty of rumors about which quarterback USC would be taking in the transfer portal to replace Williams.
“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t difficult to filter that out and just focus on the game,” Moss said. “And I told Lincoln and Kliff [Kingsbury] that.”
Just a few weeks before, Riley had stood in front of a microphone after early signing day and told the assembled media that the program would potentially be looking to add not just one, but two quarterbacks from the transfer portal. After the Holiday Bowl, however, Riley’s outlook on USC’s quarterback room appeared to change. That’s when he called Moss.
“He was like, ‘Hey, great job. I just want to let you know we’re not going to take an older transfer,'” Moss said. “I think Lincoln really wanted to see me play and then was going to make a decision because I think he wanted to see if what happened in the game confirmed his practice evaluation.”
Moss is well aware Riley’s call did not mean the quarterback position at USC is automatically his, but it came with some validation Moss had been waiting for his whole college career.
Moss had many doubts during his first three years in college. He had conversations about transferring to a program where he could play right away. But in the end, he would always decide to remain at USC. In the age of the portal, Moss’s story is a rarity. He stayed and developed, and it paid off.
Ahead of USC’s spring game, Moss — who still has two years of eligibility left — is still relishing the Holiday Bowl performance while trying to ensure it is only the beginning of his time as the Trojans’ starter. “It was one of the greatest feelings of my life, but I felt like I had lived that moment so many times in my head already,” Moss said. “I had visualized that moment in my head of me being able to show the world that I can do this.”
TWELVE YEARS AGO, a 10-year-old Miller Moss found himself in a peculiar place: inside the Oct. 15 issue of “The New Yorker.”
The article by Ben McGrath, titled “Head Start,” focused on longtime quarterback guru Steve Clarkson and the development of football players — specifically quarterbacks — from very young ages. Though Miller’s family was not athletically inclined, Miller had taken a great interest in football from a young age, and he started playing in Clarkson’s spring football league for toddlers.
Miller’s father, Eric Moss, is quoted in the piece discussing how his son’s upbringing wasn’t immediately focused on sports but rather on using his interests outside the sport to create a more holistic approach to development.
“I really think a lot of this is an accident,” Eric said in the story. “Whatever you put in front of him he kind of likes.”
Eric knew from an early age his son gravitated toward activities that stimulated his brain. At the time of the New Yorker piece, Eric already had Miller involved in writing camps, math competitions and chess. Miller also drew football plays on his laptop, just for fun. In Miller’s elementary school yearbook, which included the typical “What do you want to be when you grow up?” question, Miller had said “Secretary of State.” By high school, the answer had evolved to “President.”
“I think he is an unusual kid for a football player and an unusual football player for a kid,” Eric said in an interview with ESPN last month. “I think he’s a tactician and a strategist, but he is also self-effacing and has the ability to bring people together.”
As Miller’s mom, Emily Kovner Moss, explains, the family was not oriented around creating and protecting a high-level athlete. Growing up, Miller would become fixated on certain things — Greek mythology, space travel, drawing or basketball — and his parents wouldn’t pull him away to focus on football.
“He would be pretty obsessive about things and really pursue them,” Emily said. “We have so many books on Greek gods and goddesses and airplanes and rocket ships from those days.”
In the end, though, football was what stuck — more specifically, the dream of being USC’s starting quarterback. Though Miller’s upbringing didn’t occur in an environment where there was pressure to perform, he still cared every time he went out on the football field. Or, in the case of his first few years at USC, when he had to stand and watch from the sidelines. “There were obviously moments that were frustrating,” Eric said.
“There were people that told me ‘What are you doing?'” Miller said. “Even people on our own team being like, ‘Hey man, you could play, go play other places.'”
During the shortened 2021 season, he threw 13 passes. The year after, 14. All of them came in garbage time.
“I expressed that to my family: This sucks. It’s not fun,” Miller said. “It’s difficult watching film of opponents and I’m thinking, I know I can do this. It definitely tested my patience.”
The 2022 Pac-12 championship game was rock bottom. Needing a win to all but guarantee a spot in the College Football Playoff, USC was trailing Utah in the second half and Williams had hurt a hamstring but stayed in the game. According to Miller, coaches told him to get warmed up. But the moment never came. Williams stayed on the field, and after scoring 17 points in the first half, the Trojans’ offense only scored seven points in the second half and lost to the Utes 47-24.
“Caleb is a hell of a competitor and earned the right to stay in the game, and I can’t say that if I was him in that position, I wouldn’t have done the same thing,” Miller said. “But that awkward back and forth of ‘Am I going to go in or not?’ was frustrating. It was disheartening because I walked away from that questioning Lincoln’s belief in me.” Miller communicated his frustrations to Riley and asked about his position on the team. If the coaching staff didn’t trust him, he needed to know so he could move on with his college career elsewhere.
“I always wanted him to know as his mom that you always have a choice, you are never stuck somewhere,” Emily said. “I always wanted him to know that he had agency. And of course, when you’re emotionally connected to something, it’s more difficult to exercise that agency. At the same time, when you have an emotional connection, you’re more invested and you work that much harder and it means that much more.”
It wasn’t just about football. Miller’s entire life is at USC. He likes being a college student. USC is connected to not just his football career, but his education and dreams beyond the sport. That made it easier to push away the idea of transferring.
“What was hard about it is that he loves USC,” Emily said. “He’s so dedicated to it, dedicated to it in every way, athletically, academically, socially. Like it’s in his soul.” Miller has already earned a bachelor’s degree in law, history and culture with a minor in business finance, and he is currently pursuing his master’s degree in social entrepreneurship.
“Him staying at USC this whole time has been painted as an allegiance to the program and school, which is true,” Eric said. “But I also think it has something to do with his sense of himself … He is genuinely connected on campus, it’s not just a means to an end. He has his friends on campus, his girlfriend, the football guys and, this may sound odd, but he’s actually a college student in a community that’s bigger than the football team.”
That’s why when Riley assured Miller that the Pac-12 championship situation was not a reflection on him or his talents, it was easy to believe the coach. That was enough to convince him to commit to another year at USC. In 2023, Williams would still be under center, but Miller Moss’ opportunity was getting closer.
LAST YEAR, MOSS’ season took on a different tone. He knew that he would spend most of his time on the sidelines. But he knew he was only a few months away from getting his shot. He didn’t even give the transfer portal a thought.
“Coming into USC, I was probably pretty naive thinking I’d play a lot,” Moss said. “I think one thing that I had to learn early on in college is there’s a bunch of different paths to success.”
Despite the low points and the lack of playing time, Moss remained engaged and established himself as an emotional leader who competed in practice and invested in the younger wide receivers. Getting a start in the Holiday Bowl was, in some ways, a culmination of Moss’ journey. But after 60 minutes and six touchdowns, it became a showcase that vindicated Moss’s patience and jumpstarted the next part of his career.
“It was a magical night. It was more than I could have dreamed of,” Emily said. “The battle was fought for so long and he had really earned it, and that made it all the more fulfilling, But it’s part of a journey that has had ebbs and flows, so it’s not the end of something, it’s the continuation.”
Since the Holiday Bowl, USC did add a quarterback in the first transfer portal window, but it was not a multiyear starter with experience. Instead, they added UNLV’s Jayden Maiava — a rising sophomore with plenty of potential coming off a 3,000-yard season. Riley has remained consistent in saying that the position is up for grabs.
“After the way Miller played in the bowl game, and not just the way he played that night, but the way he handled those six weeks of practice, we felt extremely confident in him and we really felt like there was not much of a need to really pursue anybody that was older,” Riley said. “We’re going to let those two guys duke it out.”
Moss hasn’t let that deter him. He spent the offseason watching documentaries about successful sports teams such as the Tom Brady-Bill Belichick New England Patriots and Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls, and he has tried to soak up knowledge about leading a team. He has organized team outings and throwing sessions down in Huntington Beach, too. The foundation Moss built as a backup and the work he has done since has been noticed by his teammates.
“I feel like his talent has always been there,” sophomore wide receiver Zachariah Branch said. “He has a good arm, great confidence and he can read the scheme of defenses as well, but his leadership definitely has grown.”
Even if it appears that Moss’ transition from backup to leader happened overnight, he and those around him know that it hasn’t.
“These are always roles he’s always been attracted to, and that he’s always had in schools, in the classroom on teams,” Emily said. “So it’s not like, oh, all of a sudden I am the leader of this team. This is a 22-year project in the making, whether it’s in an athletic forum, an academic one, an artistic one.”
Football might be at the forefront of Moss’ mind at this moment. But as Eric puts it — almost echoing the quotes he once gave to “The New Yorker” — the past three years have shown this journey is about a lot more than that. Maybe “Secretary of State” and “President” have been replaced with “NFL quarterback,” but Moss’ experience at USC so far has been as instructive to his career as any time on the field going forward will be.
“If you’re the SC quarterback, everyone has an opinion on you,” Eric said. “To persevere in that context, he’s demonstrated he can do that. And that inner confidence, I think, is a real quality for Miller that will help him in lots of ways when football is history and he’s doing something else.” The experience he’s gone through has not only allowed Miller to stick to his plan in the face of adversity, but it’s also made him more well-prepared than ever to step into the demanding role this season will ask of him.
“In my mind,” Moss said, “I’ve lived every day of the past two years preparing for this.”
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Ryan S. Clark
Peter DeBoer is always thinking. Especially the night before a Game 7. It’s just that arguably the greatest do-or-die coach in North American sports history is thinking more about what movie he’s going to watch rather than how he’s going to remain undefeated in another Game 7.
Anyone who thinks that the night before a Game 7 consists of DeBoer drinking a sixth cup of coffee while he and his assistants are reviewing game film is mistaken. That process started well before they even reached that point, with the strong reality that it likely started days before they even played Game 1.
DeBoer’s process isn’t dependent on Game 7. It’s something that has been several years in the making but still has room for adjustments. His approach is rooted in how he speaks to players, and the way he makes them feel after speaking to them. It’s how he approaches what goes into coaching, while knowing when to take a step back so his assistants feel empowered to do their jobs without someone looking over their proverbial shoulders.
The plan is simple: Be thoughtful, but don’t overthink.
“I think players want two or three things they can concentrate on,” DeBoer said. “Otherwise, the picture becomes muddy, and that tends to slow your processing down.”
Some variation of that message has defined George Peter DeBoer, an individual who, despite having a law degree, opted to pursue coaching. Not that DeBoer couldn’t have been an attorney. It’s just that becoming a coach has seen him go from what could have been a life filled with depositions to making a living by disposing of his opponents in winner-take-all contests.
DeBoer is 8-0 all time in Game 7s, and he could improve that record to 9-0 should the Dallas Stars beat the Colorado Avalanche on Saturday. A win would not only mean the Stars advance to the second round, but it would make DeBoer the NHL’s all-time leader in Game 7 victories, an honor he currently shares with Darryl Sutter.
Until then? DeBoer will think about hockey … to a point. When he reaches that point, that’ll be when his mind will shift toward what action, comedy, drama or rom-com he’ll watch to attain a sense of normalcy before trying to pull off the abnormal. Again.
“It’s crazy and I’m sure when I’m done and looking back, it’s going to be one of the things I’m really proud of, and I’m going to tell my grandkids about it hopefully,” DeBoer said of his Game 7 record. “I feel fortunate because I know how hard those players have played in those situations for me and how much work has gone into winning those. Also, how hard the staffs I’ve had have worked, because they don’t get enough credit for that.”
TRUST IS THE WORD that Chandler Stephenson uses countless times over the course of a 10-minute interview about what makes DeBoer the best at winning Game 7s, while also being one of the best head coaches of this current generation of NHL bench bosses.
One item that has made DeBoer one of the premier coaches of this generation is how his teams not only win, but win in quick fashion. In each of the first seasons that he has guided a team to the playoffs, those teams have reached the conference finals.
It’s part of the reason the Vegas Golden Knights hired DeBoer in-season in 2019-20 before the pandemic limited his regular-season mark to 15 wins in 22 games. Stephenson, who was on the Golden Knights when DeBoer arrived, said DeBoer knew how to explain his systems and what he wanted from players without it feeling forced.
“I think that kind of goes into a Game 7. Game 7s are Game 7s,” said Stephenson, who now plays for the Seattle Kraken. “You’re getting everybody’s best, and you’re focusing on yourself. But for him, he has that belief in his system and that you can trust it, it can work, and he makes guys feel confident and feel good about their game. It shows the kind of coach that he is … but he’s also a human being at the same time.”
Where DeBoer’s humanity shines through is the way his three children talk about their Uncle Steve and Aunt Lisa. In this case, Uncle Steve isn’t a blood relative but rather assistant coach Steve Spott.
Spott has been with DeBoer since 1997 when DeBoer was the head coach of the Plymouth Whalers in the OHL. They worked together when DeBoer went to the Kitchener Rangers, and the two reunited in 2015 when DeBoer took over the San Jose Sharks.
Abby DeBoer said her mother, Susan, and Steve’s wife, Lisa, would always do family dinners when they were in Kitchener together whether the team was at home or on the road. The DeBoers would eventually spend Christmases and Thanksgivings with the Spotts or other assistants who became close with their family.
“They’re my brother’s godparents and their son, Tyler, is my best friend,” said DeBoer’s oldest son, Jack. “They have a daughter who is friends with my sister. It’s almost like having another aunt and uncle and another brother and sister. We’re that close. I think if you have that, the stuff at the rink and camaraderie and those Game 7 wins, they come when you have a lot of respect for the people you work with, and your families are as close as they are.”
Jack, who played college hockey at Boston University and Niagara University, said the DeBoer family has also developed a strong relationship with assistant coach Misha Donskov and his wife, Amy. Peter DeBoer and Donskov worked together in Vegas, with DeBoer promoting Donskov to assistant coach after he had previously served as director of hockey operations. Donskov joined the Stars last season and was also with DeBoer as part of the Team Canada coaching staff at the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“It’s not just Pete,” Stars forward Jason Robertson said. “It’s the rest of the coaching staff doing their jobs. It’s the leaders in the room. It’s everything. I’d like to say the majority of his teams have been heavy on veterans, and that goes a long way with preparation. But Mish, Spotter, [Stars assistant coach Alain Nasreddine] all do a great job of preparing players in each way. It’s definitely a team effort and a team effort on the ice.”
Stars captain Jamie Benn said what has made DeBoer so successful with how he approaches Game 7s is that he takes everything into account. Benn said DeBoer has made so many notes throughout the first six games that he’s able to provide players with a complete picture of what must be done to advance to the next round.
Benn has been through two Game 7s with DeBoer. The first came in 2023 when the Stars beat the Kraken in the second round, and the second came in 2024 when they defeated the then-defending champion Golden Knights in the first round.
Though the opponents were different, Benn said the underlying theme was that DeBoer prepared his players by providing a level of detail that leaves them feeling that they’ve been set up for success.
“His track record helps,” Benn said. “In the end, he wants us to go out there, have fun and play. Just play our system the right way with details. He boosts his players up for those moments, and we’ve succeeded.”
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Jamie Benn brings Stars level on the power play
Jamie Benn tips it in from close range to tie the score on the power play for the Stars vs. the Avalanche.
Robertson said that although he wasn’t initially aware of DeBoer’s Game 7 record entering the game against the Kraken, knowing that history provided the Stars with even more confidence that they could do it again versus the Golden Knights.
As for the Golden Knights: What was it like for Stephenson and the rest of his former teammates to go from having Game 7 success with DeBoer to being on the losing end?
“It was a little bit of, we know his system and what he wants to do, but it’s such a good system that he runs that it gives Dallas success,” Stephenson said. “It gave us success and all the teams he coached success, because that’s what you should want, and that’s how you should want to play the game.”
IT’S CLEAR IN TALKING to those around him that DeBoer knows when to be a coach, when to be a human being and when to use both to make everyone around him feel at ease knowing that their season is on the line.
But is that the real reason DeBoer has won eight consecutive Game 7s? Or is it something else, like a superstition? More specifically, is the fact that DeBoer always wears a three-piece suit in Game 7s — leading to his trademark look being called a “three-Pete suit” — the reason behind his success?
“My first video coach was a guy named Jamie Pringle. He’s in Calgary now and has been there for 10, 12 years,” DeBoer told ESPN in late March. “We played Calgary on this road trip, and he texted me before the game, ‘Do me a favor. We’re fighting for a playoff spot. Don’t wear the three-piece suit!’ And I didn’t! But we beat them anyway. I’m not sure it helped.”
DeBoer admitted that subconsciously he thinks about wearing a three-piece suit before those Game 7s because it goes back to confidence, and the confidence he wants to portray when walking into the dressing room.
“The players really read off you, and it’s a composure, quiet confidence that’s even more critical when you get into those do-or-die situations,” DeBoer explained.
Broadcasts of NHL games often show coaches intensely looking at what’s going on in front of them, or being actively engaged in other ways. It creates the belief that they might not be approachable or that hockey is all they think about.
Abby DeBoer said she has had friends who were nervous at first to meet her dad because he is this “stern-looking” figure wearing a three-piece suit. But when people get to know him and realize that he’s someone who enjoys life, he’s able to connect with everyone from his children’s friends to his assistant coaches to his players.
“For him, it’s not about being the loudest person in the room or having your voice heard and everyone immediately following,” Abby said. “He’s really open to conversation. He’s really open to feedback. He’s really open to collaboration.”
Oddly enough, something DeBoer’s children say he’s not open to is talking with them about his job in any great detail. Jack and Matt joked that they might be able to get their dad to answer two questions before he moves on to a subject that doesn’t involve what he does at the rink.
That even includes Game 7s.
“I kind of wish I could maybe hear a little more from him sometimes but he’s pretty, ‘Keep hockey at the rink,’ especially with those Game 7s,” said Matt, a junior forward who plays college hockey at Holy Cross. “He’s a calm person. He doesn’t really like to talk about himself or what’s going on at the rink. When he’s home, it’s, ‘Let’s watch a movie or let’s talk about your hockey life.'”
DeBoer is quick to deflect the praise elsewhere when asked what has made him so successful in Game 7s. He credits the fact that he has had good fortune winning those Game 7s in different circumstances, or how he has had assistants who have made players feel at ease, along with the different team leaders he has had over the years.
“Through seven games, we try to present a really clear picture to our group over and over again of what’s working and what isn’t,” DeBoer said. “I’d like to think that by Game 7 of a series that our guys have a really clear picture of how we want to execute or what we want to do.”
DeBoer also says that having home-ice advantage for many of those Game 7s has played a role. Six of his eight Game 7 wins have come on home ice; another took place with the Stars as the “home team” in the Edmonton bubble.
The Stars host the Avs in Game 7 and have won two of the three games this series played at the American Airlines Center.
“I always say home ice isn’t important until a Game 7, and I really believe that,” DeBoer said. “I think in Game 7 it is an important advantage.”
After a 17-year NHL coaching career, DeBoer could use this postseason to fortify what is already a strong résumé. He has won 662 regular-season games, which ranks 17th all time, while his 91 playoff victories are eighth in NHL history.
His time in Dallas has included the Stars advancing to consecutive Western Conference finals; if they can get beyond the Avs on Saturday, they’ll remain on a path for a third straight trip — along with the chance to win the second Stanley Cup in franchise history, which would be DeBoer’s first.
As the rounds continue and the matchups tighten, there’s a chance DeBoer could find himself in another Game 7 situation after Saturday, which led to him being asked another question about his exploits.
Given all the success he has had with Game 7, why can’t his teams close out a series in five or six games?
“Oh, for sure! That’s the funny part of it,” he said. “I get all this credit for winning Game 7s, but I’ve lost a lot of series in Games 4, 5 and 6 too over the years. You’re never as smart as you think you are.”
Prior to the start of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs, one series stood out from the rest: Dallas Stars vs. Colorado Avalanche.
Both teams finished with more than 100 points in the regular season, appeared to be in a championship-contention window and employed Mikko Rantanen at one time during the 2024-25 campaign.
Sure enough, the two clubs have battled in their series — and six games weren’t enough to determine a victor.
Saturday night (8 p.m. ET, ABC/ESPN+) will be Game 7. It is the 199th Game 7 in Stanley Cup playoff history, and if you enjoy nail-biters, recent history suggests you are in luck: Since 2022, 11 of the 14 Game 7s have been decided by one goal, including all four in 2024.
To help get you fully prepared for the game, we’ve gathered ESPN reporters and analysts to identify the key players to watch, along with final score predictions for the pivotal clash.
Who is the one key player you’ll be watching?
Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter: It has to be Matt Duchene. After scoring 30 goals and reaching 80 points for the second time in his career, he has only one point in the series.
His productivity was key in the regular season, and the Stars could use a strong performance from Duchene in Game 7. Remember what he did against his former team in an elimination game last postseason: The Stars won in double overtime on Duchene’s goal.
Emily Kaplan, NHL reporter: Cale Makar. It doesn’t feel right that the best defenseman in the world, who scored 30 goals this season, doesn’t have a goal this series. He holds himself to a high standard, saying “I have to be a lot better” ahead of the pivotal Game 6. Makar was, picking up three points to stave off elimination, but I still think he’ll get to another gear Saturday.
Victoria Matiash, NHL analyst: Valeri Nichushkin. The Stars have had their hands full trying to stop the second-line power forward — and ex-teammate — when he’s at his most effective. After potting a pair of goals to help propel the Avalanche to Game 7, Nichushkin is poised to add another goal (or two) when it matters most. Like many others in the league, he tends to score in bunches. After not being available for the Avs in recent playoffs, he has extra incentive.
Arda Öcal, NHL broadcaster: Nathan MacKinnon has six goals and 10 points in this series. If there’s one guy with the highest levels of compete and a “never say die” attitude, it’s MacKinnon. MacKinnon’s six goals is one shy of tying the franchise record for most goals in a playoff series (with Rantanen among those that are currently tied for that record).
Kristen Shilton, NHL reporter: This is the moment for Mikko Rantanen. Dallas went all-in when it acquired Rantanen, whom the Stars signed for the long haul so he could be a difference-maker at a time like this.
Rantanen was excellent in helping Dallas bounce back in Game 5, finishing with a goal and two assists. He had four points in the Stars’ Game 6 defeat. That’s the sort of performance the Stars should expect him to replicate in Game 7. Rantanen won a Stanley Cup with the Avs; he knows what it takes to finish a series and advance deep into the playoffs. That experience will be invaluable as well for Rantanen as he leads by example for the Stars.
Greg Wyshynski, NHL reporter: He’s not on the ice, but behind the bench. Dallas coach Peter DeBoer can set an NHL record for career Game 7 wins if the Stars defeat the Avalanche. He’s 8-0 in his career, tied with several players and coach Darryl Sutter for the most career Game 7 wins. DeBoer and former Dallas forward Brad Richards are the only two individuals in NHL history to win their first eight Game 7s.
On one hand, it’s probably not great that so many of DeBoer’s teams have been in “win or go home” series scenarios. On the other hand, it has been the opponents who have gone home every time.
The final score will be _____.
Clark: 4-3 Stars. Granted, anything can happen in a Game 7, especially when a team as powerful as the Avs is involved. The Stars get the nod because they not only have won Game 7s in consecutive postseasons, but their coach Peter DeBoer is 8-0 in these do-or-die games. Again, it’s the Avs and the Stars — which means any number of possibilities could be on the table — but Dallas gets the slight edge.
Kaplan: 4-3 Avalanche. It will be high-octane. The pace in this series has been incredible, but it has often been the Avalanche setting the tone — and I expect them to be flying again. What the Stars have done without two of their biggest stars, Miro Heiskanen and Jason Robertson, shows their depth. But the Avs have too much star power not to get it done.
Matiash: 3-1 Avalanche. Nathan MacKinnon, at his best, is tough to contain when everything is on the line. Even if the Stars stifle the Avs’ top unit, that secondary forward front, including Nichushkin, Brock Nelson, and Gabriel Landeskog, provides too formidable a follow-up punch. Plus, Mackenzie Blackwood, who has strung together few porous starts all season, appears set to provide another stellar showing, similar to the shutout he pitched in Game 4.
Öcal: 3-1 Stars. Jake Oettinger makes 43 saves. Roope Hintz opens the scoring, the Avs tie it up thanks to Cale Makar on the power play. Early in the third, it’s who else but Mikko Rantanen scoring on a breakaway, then Thomas Harley adds an empty-netter and Dallas moves on to Round 2.
Shilton: 3-2 Stars. It never hurts to have home-ice advantage in a Game 7, especially when you’ve played as well in your own building as Dallas did all season. The Stars have been the better team — by a slim margin — in the series, and though it should be a close contest, Dallas has the juice to send Colorado packing.
Peter DeBoer’s perfect coaching record in Game 7s aside, the Stars are practically seasoned vets when it comes to playing in them, while the Avalanche haven’t had the same success closing teams out since their Cup win three years ago. It’ll be a tight battle.
Wyshynski: Stars 4-2. I picked them before the series in seven games and I’ll stick with that. That was a one-goal Game 6 until the empty-netters, despite Roope Hintz and Mikko Rantanen being the entirety of the Dallas offense. The Stars will need something out of Matt Duchene, Tyler Seguin and Mason Marchment in Game 7. The encouraging thing is that they got something out of all three of them in the Stars’ Game 5 rout, so maybe they just need some home cooking.
Factor in Jake Oettinger‘s 1.54 goals-against average and .956 save percentage in three Game 7 appearances (2-1 record), and I like Dallas to advance.
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