Bruins vs Stars Recap: 3-2 OT Loss Caps 3-0-1 Road Trip

The Bruins’ winning streak ended at five on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2026, when Mikko Rantanen completed a hat trick with a power-play goal 3:52 into overtime to give the Dallas Stars a 3-2 win at American Airlines Center. Boston still earned a point and finished its four-game Western road trip 3-0-1, NHL.com reported. At 7-2-1, the Bruins lead the Atlantic Division with 15 points.

How the Goals Came

1-0 Boston (2:09, 1st): Matthew Poitras one-timed a cross-ice pass from Frederic Brunet from the left circle.
1-1 (2:50, 2nd): Rantanen buried the rebound of a Jason Robertson poke attempt.
2-1 Boston (7:30, 2nd): James Hagens redirected a Casey Mittelstadt pass from the right side over Jake Oettinger’s pad.
2-2 (13:38, 3rd): Charlie McAvoy blocked a Roope Hintz shot in the slot, but the puck caromed to Rantanen, who snapped it in from the right circle.
3-2 Dallas (3:52, OT): On a 4-on-3 power play, Rantanen took a pass from Miro Heiskanen low on the left, worked toward the net and beat Jeremy Swayman with a backhand.

Swayman’s Overtime Saves

Swayman made 22 saves, including two stops on Wyatt Johnston breakaways about 10 seconds apart earlier in overtime, according to the Associated Press recap on ESPN. Oettinger made 18 saves for Dallas, which won its third straight to reach 5-3-1.

Boston limited the Stars to two shots on goal in the third period and led 22-13 in blocked shots. The power play was the difference: the Bruins went 0 for 4 against a Dallas team that entered allowing an NHL-low 1.5 goals per game, while the Stars converted in overtime.

What the Bruins Said

“I thought the guys played great, I really do,” coach Marco Sturm said. “Deserved definitely a point. A little unfortunate to give up the second point, but looking back, what a great road trip. I really liked our effort tonight.”

“It’s hard to win in this league,” Swayman said. “It’s been the best trip ever, just because of the camaraderie and the way we’ve competed and been able to just stick together every single day.”

Defenseman Nikita Zadorov said: “I thought we did a pretty good job overall defensively. Obviously on the power play in overtime, Mikko made an unbelievable play there. Just got to tip the hat.”

Rantanen’s Milestones

The overtime winner was Rantanen’s 321st career goal, tying Olli Jokinen for third among Finnish-born NHL players behind Teemu Selanne (684) and Jari Kurri (601). It was his 11th career hat trick and made him the 15th player in NHL history with multiple overtime hat tricks. It was also his first regular-season hat trick since Dallas acquired him during the 2024-25 season.

Atlantic Division Standings

After Tuesday’s games, the top of the Atlantic looked like this, per ESPN:

Boston: 7-2-1, 15 points
Tampa Bay: 7-2-0, 14 points
Ottawa: 6-3-0, 12 points
Florida: 5-2-2, 12 points
Toronto: 5-4-2, 12 points

Up Next: Nashville at TD Garden

The Bruins return home to host the Nashville Predators on Thursday, Oct. 22. Dallas visits Boston on Jan. 14 for the teams’ second and final meeting of the season. For earlier Bruins coverage, see our Bruins-Flyers recap and the Boston sports report.

Additional Details

David Pastrnak entered the game with 12 points in nine games, leading the team, and had passed Brad Marchand on Oct. 16 for sole possession of fourth on the Bruins’ all-time goals list with his 423rd, according to the Stars’ game-day guide.
Attendance in Dallas was 18,532.
Rantanen joins active players Alex Ovechkin, Aleksander Barkov, Brady Tkachuk, Tomas Hertl and Anthony Duclair with multiple overtime hat tricks.

Featured image: TD Garden, home of the Bruins, seen from the Charlestown Bridge. Photo by Benoît Prieur via Wikimedia Commons, CC0; cropped.

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Rantanen’s OT Hat Trick Ends Bruins’ Winning Streak at Five