Stars and Avs in playoff-opening series of Cup favorites that has Mikko Rantanen on a different side

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Mikko Rantanen was at ease Friday when talking about the excitement of starting the playoffs, which the standout forward experienced with the Colorado Avalanche each of the past seven seasons that included a Stanley Cup title.

Except this time Rantanen will be on the other side with Dallas, in a first-round Western Conference series against the Avalanche that starts Saturday night.

Colorado traded Rantanen on Jan. 24 to Carolina in the East, where he played only 13 games. A deadline deal March 7 sent him back to the Central Division with the Stars and included a $96 million, eight-year contract extension.

“It’s Dallas against Colorado and I’m part of Dallas. So that’s that’s how I look at it," Rantanen said.

So can it really be that simple for the 28-year-old forward?

“Yeah, I guess we’ll see,” he said. “But, you know, it’s business and like I said, the trade didn’t happen two days ago. ... It’s been a while now since I haven’t played with the Avs anymore. What is it, three months almost, so I think it's all behind us now, and now it’s just part of a new team.”

Rantanen was picked 10th overall by Colorado in the 2015 draft and was three weeks shy of his 19th birthday when he made his NHL debut later that year. He scored 705 points in 652 regular-season games for the Avs, plus 100 points in 82 playoff games, before they traded him in the final season of his contract.

“It's going to be different. but that’s his new home, and it’s going to be his new home for eight years,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said. "That’s the life of pro hockey sometimes in the business side of it. So he’s going to be a big factor in this series. Again, it’s not just one player and one line.”

Martin Necas, who came from Carolina in the first Rantanen trade, has taken full advantage of spending time on the same Colorado line as Nathan MacKinnon, the league’s reigning MVP. Necas, one of the rare skaters quick enough to keep pace with the fast-flying MacKinnon, has 28 points (11 goals, 17 assists) in his 30 games.

Rantanen has five goals and 13 assists in 20 games with the Stars. He had 64 points (25 goals, 39 assists) in 49 games for Colorado this season, when he had 88 points (32 goals, 56 assists) in 82 games overall for his three teams.

The Stars have lost Game 1 in their past seven playoffs series, including all six while making it to the Western Conference Final each of the past two seasons when five of those openers were at home.

“There’s a real history there of starting slowly, and we've lived that,” coach Pete DeBoer said. “I don’t think we can hang that on this group. ... New people, new year.”

Well, this group finished the regular season 0-5-2 during a stretch with the Stars already locked into their playoff spot and matchup against the Avs.

“The last 2 1/2 weeks, we've been looking forward to this, and I think that that was reflected in our play for a lot of it,” DeBoer said. “This is what you play for.”

The Stars will be without top goal scorer Jason Robertson because of a lower-body injury suffered in their last regular-season game Wednesday.

DeBoer on Friday described Robertson, who has 35 goals and 45 assists, as week-to-week.

Dallas is also without standout defenseman Miro Heiskanen, who missed the last 32 regular-season games and hasn't returned to practice since after injuring is left knee against Vegas on Jan. 28.

Longtime Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog might be on the cusp of making his return to the NHL for the first time since helping them hoist the Stanley Cup in late June 2022.

Landeskog has been out with a knee injury that has led to a couple of surgeries and caused him to miss the past three regular seasons. The 32-year-old Landeskog last weekend finished a two-game stint with the Colorado Eagles of the American Hockey League as part of a conditioning assignment.

“He’s close. He’s close. He’s getting close," Bednar said Friday. "Obviously, every day I feel like he getting a little quicker and a little bit more confident, little more sure of himself. He’ll be an option for us in this series.”

Colorado has quite a tandem in goal thanks to a pair of in-season trades.

First, the Avalanche picked up backup goalie Scott Wedgewood in a deal with Nashville on Nov. 30. Wedgewood, who backed up Jake Oettinger in Dallas the past two seasons, is 13-4-1 with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage over 19 games in Colorado.

Colorado then made a bold move on Dec. 9, trading starting goaltender Alexandar Georgiev to San Jose for Mackenzie Blackwood. Blackwood since has posted a 22-12-3 mark with a 2.33 GAA and .913 save percentage.

The home team won all three meetings during the regular season, the last a 4-3 overtime win by the Avalanche on March 16, when Rantanen played against his former team for the only time.

Colorado’s only trip to Dallas was Nov. 29, when the Stars won 5-3.

The Stars won a six-game series against Colorado in the second round of the playoffs last season.

AP Sports Writer Pat Graham in Denver contributed to this report.

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Dallas Stars center Colin Blackwell, right, celebrates his goal with Sam Steel (18) against the Detroit Red Wings in the second period of an NHL hockey game Monday, April 14, 2025, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

Colorado Avalanche center Charlie Coyle (10) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Anaheim Ducks during the third period of an NHL hockey game in Anaheim, Calif., Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Sam Malinski (70) celebrates with goaltender Scott Wedgewood (41) after the Avalanche defeated the Anaheim Ducks in an NHL hockey game in Anaheim, Calif., Sunday, April 13, 2025. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)

Colorado Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar, back, draws up a play for players during a time out in the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Vancouver Canucks Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck (37) blocks a shot by Dallas Stars right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) during the third period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, April 10, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Dallas Stars right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) chases the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Nashville Predators, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) — A Michigan police officer who killed a man with a shot to the back of the head testified in his own defense Friday, telling jurors at his second-degree murder trial that he was “running on fumes” and fearing for his life after losing his Taser during an intense fight.

“I believed that if I hadn’t done it at that time, I wasn’t going to go home,” said Christopher Schurr, who fired the single fatal shot as he pinned Patrick Lyoya facedown on the ground in an effort to subdue him.

Schurr, 34, wiped his eyes and sniffed as video from that day was played for the jurors. His testimony was his first public explanation of what happened following a routine traffic stop on a cold, rainy spring morning in Grand Rapids in 2022.

The shooting stunned the public after the Grand Rapids police chief released video of the killing, which was recorded by a man who was accompanying Lyoya that day. There also was police car video and images from Schurr's body camera.

Schurr told the jury that it was "important to get my side of the story out.”

Jurors must decide whether Schurr, who was patrolling alone, could have reasonably feared that he could suffer great bodily harm or be killed after Lyoya got control of his Taser, a weapon that fires electrically charged probes to temporarily subdue an aggressor.

Lyoya, a Black man, failed to produce a driver’s license after Schurr pulled him over for driving a car with a mismatched license plate. Then he ran, and the officer chased and tackled him. As they physically struggled to exhaustion for more than two minutes, Schurr was heard desperately asking for officers to rush to the scene.

“I’m running on fumes,” he explained to the jury.

Video shows the confrontation finally ended when Schurr fired into Lyoya’s head after repeatedly demanding that Lyoya stop resisting and give up the Taser, which the officer had lost control of in the fight.

It’s not known why Lyoya was trying to flee. Records show his driver’s license was revoked at the time and there was an arrest warrant for him in a domestic violence case, though Schurr didn’t know it. An autopsy revealed his blood-alcohol level was three times above the legal limit for driving, according to testimony.

During cross-examination, prosecutor Chris Becker tried to highlight inconsistencies between Schurr's testimony and his statements to investigators three years ago, particularly his physical condition at the time.

Becker also noted that the officer was on top of Lyoya before the fatal shot, suggesting that he had an advantage.

"He never said he was going to kill you, right? Never said he was going to hit you. Never said he was going to kick your butt or do anything bad to you,” the prosecutor said.

Schurr earlier testified that he had a Taser used on him during police training and knew it could cause "excruciating pain.”

“I shot him because I believed he was going to use it on me,” Schurr told Becker. “He started to turn up towards me. I felt if I didn't respond at that time, I wouldn't be here.”

“Sure, but he’s not here, is he?” Becker shot back, referring to Lyoya's death.

“No, he’s not,” Schurr replied.

Outside the courthouse Friday, a crowd waved “thin blue line” flags in support of Schurr while standing along a busy downtown street. Inside, his wife sat in a front row of the courtroom while Lyoya's parents, who brought their family to the U.S. from Congo in 2014, sat in a front row on the opposite side.

The jury late in the day also heard testimony from Lewis “Von” Kliem, a lawyer and former officer who analyzes instances of force across the U.S. He said Schurr’s decision to shoot Lyoya can be seen as reasonable “as tragic as it is.”

“What is particularly relevant is that Mr. Lyoya did not just take the (Taser) and throw it away. He took the weapon, transitioned hands and held it in a position capable of being utilized,” said Kliem, a defense witness.

Schurr was fired by city officials at the recommendation of police Chief Eric Winstrom after he was charged in 2022. At the time, Winstrom said his recommendation was based on video of the encounter, the prosecutor’s review of a state police investigation and Schurr’s interview with internal investigators.

The trial has mostly been a battle of experts.

Use-of-force experts testifying for the prosecutor said deadly force was not necessary to end the conflict. But several senior Grand Rapids officers, summoned by defense lawyers, said Schurr was at great risk when Lyoya got ahold of the Taser.

White reported from Detroit.

FILE - Patrick Lyoya's mother, Dorcas Lyoya, waits for the Michigan Court of Appeals hearing in the case against Christopher Schurr to begin in downtown Grand Rapids, Mich., on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023. (Cory Morse/MLive.com/The Grand Rapids Press via AP)

Michigan State Police bicycle unit joins Grand Rapids Police outside the Kent County Courthouse where the first day of trial began for former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr, who is charged in the 2022 killing of a Black motorist, Patrick Lyoya, in Grand Rapids, Mich., Monday, April 28, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

A video image provided by WOOD-TV of former Grand Rapids police officer Christopher Schurr taken by Jessica Beaudry, crime scene technician with Grand Rapids Police Department, is displayed on the first day of Schurr's trial, who is charged in the 2022 killing of a Black motorist, Patrick Lyoya, at the Kent County Courthouse, Monday, April 28, 2025, Grand Rapids, Mich. (WOOD-TV/Pool Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

A video image provided by WOOD-TV shows former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr being tased during his police academy training, played for the jury during testimony in the first day of Schurr's murder trial for the 2022 killing of a Black motorist, Patrick Lyoya, at the Kent County Courthouse in Grand Rapids, Mich., Monday, April 28, 2025. (WOOD-TV/Pool Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

The family of Patrick Lyoya and Kent County commissioner Robert Womack, right, arrive outside the Kent County Courthouse in Grand Rapids, Mich., Monday, April 28, 2025. (Chris duMond/Detroit News via AP)

In this image taken from video from WOOD-TV, Kent County Prosecutor shows Aaron Tubergen, a detective sergeant with the Michigan State Police, the Taser of former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr, who is charged in the 2022 killing of a Black motorist, Patrick Lyoya, as he testifies during the first day of Schurr's murder trial at the Kent County Courthouse in Grand Rapids, Mich., Monday, April 28, 2025. (WOOD-TV, Pool Photo/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

Members of the media watch as dash cam footage from former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr patrol vehicle is played for the jury during Schurr's murder trial in the 2022 killing of a Black motorist, Patrick Lyoya, at Kent County Courthouse in Grand Rapids, Mich., Monday, April 28, 2025. (Joel Bissell/MLive.com/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker shows Bryan Chiles, senior manager of Axon Forensics, the Taser7 used by former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr on Patrick Lyoya during the second day of trial at the Kent County Courthouse in Grand Rapids, Mich. on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (WOOD-TV via AP, Pool)

Body worn camera footage showing former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr with a Taser7 and Patrick Lyoya is shown during the third day at the Kent County Courthouse with his wife Brandey in Grand Rapids, Mich. on Wednesday, April 30, 2025. (Joel Bissell/Kalamazoo Gazette via AP)

Former Grand Rapids Police officer Christopher Schurr sits in court during the second day of his trial at the Kent County Courthouse in Grand Rapids, Mich., Tuesday, April 29, 2025. Schurr is charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of Patrick Lyoya, a 26-year-old Congolese immigrant during a traffic stop on April 4, 2022. (WOOD-TV via AP, Pool)