05/04/25 12:39:00
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05/04 00:37 CDT Mikko Rantanen has 4-point 3rd period for Stars to unbelievably
knock former team out of playoffs
Mikko Rantanen has 4-point 3rd period for Stars to unbelievably knock former
team out of playoffs
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
DALLAS (AP) --- Mikko Rantanen figures he would have left the room in disbelief
had someone told him at the beginning of this season that he would score a hat
track in a Game 7 against Colorado.
After all, that was the organization with which he made his NHL debut just
weeks before his 19th birthday. He was there for 9 1/2 years and went to the
playoffs each of the past seven seasons with the Avalanche in a run that
included their 2022 Stanley Cup title.
But twice traded in a six-week span earlier this year, Rantanen did exactly
that and more against his original team.
Rantanen assisted on Wyatt Johnston's tiebreaking power-play goal in between
his first career postseason hat trick --- all coming in the third period of
Game 7 for the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. They overcame a two-goal deficit
for a 4-2 win over the Avs to wrap up the first-round Western Conference series.
"It's emotional for sure because everything happened so quick," Rantanen said.
"It's only a couple of months since I was still with them, playing with them,
and chasing a playoff spot and stuff. And all of a sudden, a couple of months
later, playing against them in a Game 7."
After a four-point second period in a loss at Colorado two nights earlier,
Rantanen became only the second player in NHL history to have four points in
the third period of a Game 7. He also is the only of the nine players with a
Game 7 hat trick to score all his goals in the final period.
"We also had the benefit of a motivated guy. You know, this was Colorado and
the team that he had played for for a decade," Stars coach Pete DeBoer said.
"And I don't know all the behind the scenes what went on there, but he was a
motivated guy to make an impact in this series. And he just got better and
better."
Rantanen, who could have become a free agent after this season, was first
traded from Colorado to Carolina on Jan. 24. He played only 13 games for the
Hurricanes before they sent him to Dallas in a deadline deal March 7 that
included a $96 million, eight-year contract extension.
"I don't know revenge," Rantanen said. "I'm just happy to win as a team in the
playoffs. It doesn't matter who it is."
In 81 career playoff games for the Avalanche, Rantanen had 101 points (34
goals, 67 assists). His last game with them was Jan. 22, but the regular season
ended with him still as their third-leading scorer with 64 points (25 goals, 39
assists) in his 49 games behind Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.
Rantanen had five goals and seven assists in the seven-game series against the
Avs.
"What he did in the second period the other night ... that's the thing with
Mikko, is it's not about all his creating multiple chances every time he
touches the puck, but big moments," Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "That's
what he is, he's a pure goal scorer. He did that in the third."
And sent the Avalanche home for the summer.
___
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and
https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
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