Months after being traded from the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars winger Mikko Rantanen showed his former team that they made a mistake in moving on from him.
Rantanen scored an inspirational hat-trick to help will the Stars to a 4-2 victory over Colorado in Game 7 of the first-round of the Stanley Cup playoffs – ensuring their advancement.
They will take on the winner of another Game 7 between the Winnipeg Jets and the St. Louis Blues.
Earlier in the season, the Avalanche traded Rantanen out of the Western Conference and to the Carolina Hurricanes in a three-team deal that netted Colorado forwards Jack Drury and Martin Necas as well as a second-round pick and a 2026 fourth-round pick.
But after Rantanen made it clear that he didn’t want to commit to the Hurricanes long-term, Carolina then traded him to the Stars for forward Logan Stankoven, two conditional first-round picks and two-third round picks.
That put Rantanen not only in the Western Conference, but in the Central Division – the same as Colorado.
After being traded off Colorado earlier this year, Mikko Rantanen (96) eliminated his old team
Rantanen bagged a hat trick and an assist to spark a comeback to beat the Avalanche 4-2
After eliminating Colorado, the Stars will next meet the Winnipeg Jets or the St. Louis Blues.
After a scoreless first period, the Avalanche took a 1-0 lead into the third period thanks to an opening goal from defenseman Josh Manson.
Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon doubled the lead just 31 seconds into the third period to make it 2-0 to Colorado.
Who better to start the comeback than Rantanen. His goal at the 7:49 mark of the third halved the deficit.
Then, his power play goal at 13:46 tied up the game.
The Finnish star was credited with an assist on teammate Wyatt Johnston’s power play goal that gave the Stars a 3-2 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the game.
Then, to seal the deal, Rantanen scored an empty-net goal with three seconds left in the game to doom the Avalanche to an early summer.
Rantanen was chosen as the first star of the game for his performance.
