"Him and Rantanen are our McDavid and Draisaitl": Pete DeBoer confers important title to Miro Heiskanen and Miko Rantanen after Game 1 win over Oilers

Dallas Stars coach Pete DeBoer had high praise for defenseman Miro Heiskanen and forward Miko Rantanen after their comeback 6-3 win against the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday.

DeBoer drew a comparison between two of his Stars players and Oilers' Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, calling Heiskanen and Rantanen the Stars’ own version of the dynamic Oilers duo.

Heiskanen kicked off Dallas’ third-period comeback with a power-play goal 32 seconds in to cut Edmonton’s lead to 3-2. The Stars then scored three straight power-play goals for the comeback win.

When asked about how crucial Heiskanen’s goal was in sparking the rally, Pete DeBoer said:

"He's a game changer for us. 24 minutes, 1-1-2 tonight, he changes our team. We survived the first round and a half without him, but he's our difference maker. Him and Rantanen are our McDavid and Draisaitl. So it's nice to have him back."

After being sidelined with a knee injury since January, Miro Heiskanen returned in Game 4 against the Winnipeg Jets and has racked up four points in as many playoff games.

On the comeback win, Heiskanen said:

“It doesn't matter if we're down two goals, however many goals, we never quit. There's always a chance to come back and we feel like if we play like that ... and play in their zone more, it's always a chance to win. Great third. If we keep doing that, it's going to be good."

Tyler Seguin (two goals), Esa Lindell, Matt Duchene and Mikael Granlund also scored for Dallas, while Jake Oettinger stopped 24 shots.

Edmonton, meanwhile, got goals from Evan Bouchard, Leon Draisaitl and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, while Stuart Skinner had 22 saves in the loss.

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Pete DeBoer's message to Dallas before the third period

Heading into the third period, Pete DeBoer delivered a message to his team. He believed that even though they were trailing 3-1, the Stars hadn’t shown their best hockey in the first two periods.

DeBoer told his team (0:21):

“If you are going to lose a game at this point in the year, you want to make sure the other team has to earn it, and I didn't feel through 40 minutes that you know we had we had made them earn the position they were in, so, you know, the guys responded.”

Pete DeBoer credited the Stars' response along with some timely power play goals for being the difference in the game. Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is set for Friday.