Mikko Rantanen (© Jerome Miron-Imagn Images)The Dallas Stars defeated the Colorado Avalanche in their Game 7 matchup by a 4-2 final score. With this, the Stars are moving on to the second round, and former Carolina Hurricanes forward Mikko Rantanen is the main reason for it.
After the Stars went down 2-0 early in the third period, Rantanen put Dallas on his back and simply dominated. The former Hurricanes forward recorded a hat trick and an assist in the third period, leading the Stars to their massive Game 7 comeback win.
With this dominant performance, Rantanen finished the first-round series against his former club with five goals, seven assists, and 12 points. This included posting 11 points in his final three games of the series. Needless to say, he has been simply on fire, and the Stars' playoff run is still alive because of it.
The Hurricanes traded Rantanen to the Stars in exchange for Logan Stankoven, a conditional 2026 first-round pick, a conditional 2028 first-round pick, a 2026 third-round pick, and a 2027 third-round pick at the NHL trade deadline. This was after Rantanen made it clear that he was not interested in signing an extension with the Hurricanes. Thus, Carolina moved him a little over a month after acquiring him from the Avalanche.
It will now be interesting to see if Rantanen can build on his hot streak with the Stars from here. Right now, he is showing no signs of slowing down.
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