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, 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 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 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.
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