A lot had been made of Mikko Rantanen’s seeming disappearing act in the first four games of the Dallas Star’s first-round playoff series against his former team, the Colorado Avalanche.
The 28-year-old Finn, who signed an eight-year, $96 million contract extension with Dallas after being traded from the Carolina Hurricanes in March at the NHL trade deadline, had just one assists in those first four playoff games.
But when the Stars needed Rantanen, he came through — especially in Saturday’s 4-2 Game 7 win. Rantanen logged a goal and three points in Dallas’ Game 5 win, a goal and four points in Thursday’s Game 6 loss, and he had a four-point night in Saturday’s win-or-go-home contest, including a hat trick to send his former team home.
Dallas Stars right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) waves to the fans after the Stars win over the Colorado Avalanche in game five of the first round of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center.
Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Rantanen’s five goals tie him for the second-most in the playoffs, behind only Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon, who notched seven with four assists in seven games.
And while he single handedly brought Dallas from the brink of defeat to a second-round date with either the Winnipeg Jets or St. Louis Blues, Rantanen also wrote his name in the NHL record books.
The two-time All-Star became the first player in NHL history to record a third-period hat trick in a Game 7.
His first goal came 7:49 into the period and cut Colorado’s lead to 2-1. Nearly seven minutes later, Rantanen struck again with a power-play goal to tie it 2-2. Then after Wyatt Johnston put Dallas ahead, Rantanen finished off the hat trick and put the game away with his third goal on an empty-netter with just three seconds left in the period.
Aside from accomplishing an NHL first, Saturday’s victory likely meant a little more to Rantanen coming against his former team. The Avalanche traded the former 10th overall pick to the Hurricanes back in January because they reportedly didn’t want to pay Rantanen the lucrative contract he was looking for.
Not only did Rantanen get his pay day, he also gets to play in Round 2 of the Stanley Cup playoffs while the Avalanche will be watching from home.
