PITTSBURGH -- Mikko Rantanen returned from missing 15 games with a lower-body injury and had a goal and an assist when the Dallas Stars defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-3 at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday.
The 29-year-old forward had last played for Dallas on Feb. 4, before being injured on Feb. 20 while playing for Team Finland against Team Canada in the semifinals at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
Rantanen has 71 points (21 goals, 50 assists) in 55 games this season, third on the Stars behind Jason Robertson (87 points; 40 goals, 47 assists) and Wyatt Johnston (78 points; 40 goals, 38 assists).
“I think the team, where we are now, it’s going to be a big boost to get him back,” Dallas coach Glen Gulutzan said.
The Stars (44-18-11), who have clinched a berth into the Stanley Cup Playoffs, were 9-4-2 without Rantanen but had lost four in a row, including three straight in regulation.
Gulutzan said the lineup could look significantly different with Rantanen reintroduced.
“I told all the guys here today, we’ve got lines,” Gulutzan said. “I just said, ‘There’s going to be a lot of shuffling of the deck chairs. The beauty of that is I’ve done it all year, so they’re used to it. We’ll just find some matches that work. ... We’ll mix and match until we see what’s working.
“It’s a time of year, anyway, that all guys have got to start looking the same with the way we do things.”
Before the injury, Rantanen had six points (one goal, five assists) on a five-game point streak from Jan. 27-Feb. 4. He has 43 points (11 goals, 32 assists) in 32 games since Nov. 28.
Selected in the first round (No. 10) by the Avalanche in 2015, Rantanen has 776 points (315 goals, 461 assists) in 707 NHL games. He won the Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2022 and was named an NHL All-Star in 2019 and 2023.
Rantanen has 89 points (26 goals, 63 assists) in 75 games with the Stars since being acquired in a trade from the Carolina Hurricanes on March 7, 2025.
