In the weekend's other Game 7 classic, with the Stars down 2-0 in the third period, Rantanen scored two goals to tie the game, and then he assisted on Wyatt Johnston's game-winning goal with under four minutes left. To pour a little more salt in the wound, Rantanen sealed the win with an empty-net goal to complete his hat trick.

Sixteen teams in total make the NBA playoffs, eight teams from both the Eastern and Western Conferences. The top six seeds in each conference advance based on the regular season record. The final two seeds in each conference are wild-card spots based on the best remaining records in each conference.