Mikko Rantanen made history by wristing home a goal through the five-hole, and was greeted with a chorus of boos from Ball Arena.
With that goal in the second period of Game 6 on Thursday, Rantanen and fellow Stars standout Roope Hintz became the first two teammates in NHL history to record four points apiece in a single period in a Stanley Cup Playoffs series.
As for the boos from the fans who cheered for Rantanen for a decade in Colorado?
“I didn’t really hear them,” Rantanen said.
The Finnish forward caught fire in a back-and-forth Game 6, but his revenge game was wasted after the Avs tied the game on Valeri Nichushkin’s goal in the third and later won it 7-4 thanks to a wild own goal by the Stars.
Rantanen’s breakout game came on the heels of a three-point night in Dallas’ 6-2 romp in Game 5 earlier this week. He now has a Dallas-best eight points in the series, leaving his early struggles against his old ‘mates in the rearview mirror.
It’s the same roller-coaster theme that has followed Rantanen throughout the 2024-25 season. He was traded from the only NHL team he knew to the Carolina Hurricanes in a blockbuster deal on Jan. 24, and then was traded again to Dallas on March 8, whereupon he signed an 8-year, $96 million contract.
“We knew what we were getting, because we played him a ton: one of the best players in the world,” Stars goalie Jake Oettinger said of Rantanen. “Just happy he’s in green and white and wearing our logo now.”
In his four-point second period, Rantanen tallied assists on two goals by Roope Hintz and another by Mikael Granlund before lighting the lamp himself with 1:25 left in the frame. Rantanen got fed the puck as he streaked down the center of the ice for a clean look, and Colorado goalie Mackenzie Blackwood didn’t have much of a chance.
But after the Stars’ third-period own goal — where Sam Steel tried to clear the puck, but it hit off Colin Blackwell’s shoulder and went in the top right shelf for a 5-4 Avs lead — Rantanen expressed little surprise the series between the divisional rivals is headed to Game 7 on Saturday in Dallas.
“It was a couple bad bounces for us today,” Rantanen said. “Their first goal (on Valeri Nichushkin’s tipped-in shot), even the second one, (Cale Makar) fans on the slapshot and it goes backdoor for (Artturi Lehkonen). Sometimes you’ve got to earn the bounces, and the bounces went their way today. We’ve got to try to earn some bounces on Saturday to go our way.
“The more desperate team is going to win. It’s probably going to be a one-goal game, like today was until the empty-netters.”
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