Heika’s Take: Rantanen’s historic run continues as Stars open Second Round with win

If the Stars are going to do something historic, they might as well go all in.

Yes, Dallas stopped a run of eight straight Game 1 losses Wednesday with a 3-2 victory over the Winnipeg Jets to start the Second Round. But, really, that was just a side plate to what Mikko Rantanen did. The newest of the lads in Victory Green, Rantanen tallied his second consecutive hat trick – only the third time in league history (and first in 40 years) that has happened in the playoffs. He also is riding a streak of having a hand in 12 consecutive Stars goals, which has never happened before in the NHL’s playoff history.

“He’s rolling, and he’s feeling it,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said of the eight goals and six assists in the past four games. “Pretty impressive what he’s doing, considering the opponent and the time of year and how he’s dominating games.”

Rantanen started this run by helping the Stars win Game 5 against the Colorado Avalanche with a three-point night. He followed that with a four-point night in Game 6 (a Stars loss) and then willed Dallas to victory by scoring three goals and adding an assist in the third period of a 4-2 win in Game 7.

On Wednesday, Dallas was looking for a spark, down 1-0, and Rantanen gave it to them. Sam Steel wheeled on the left side of the ice and sent a pass over to Evgenii Dadonov in the right circle for a one-timer. Connor Hellebuyck stopped the Wyatt Johnston shot, but Rantanen made a stupendous effort to get a one-handed poke at the puck and pop in the rebound. That tied things at 1-1 and gave the Stars a huge boost of energy.

Six minutes later, Rantanen tipped in a Thomas Harley shot to give the Stars a 2-1 lead. Then two minutes later, Tyler Seguin drew a cross-checking penalty and Rantanen cashed in on the power play. Matt Duchene made a nice cross-ice pass, and Rantanen’s shot deflected off of a defenseman and in for a 3-1 lead and his second consecutive hat trick.

“He’s one of the best players in the world, and he’s on fire right now,” said Steel, a fourth-liner who has been a linemate at times with Rantanen. “I’m not sure I’ve seen much like it. He can take over games, and there’s not many players in the league that can do that.”

Rantanen has been the player the Stars were hoping for when they traded for him in March. They gave up two first-round draft picks, two third-round draft picks and Logan Stankoven to get him from Carolina. They also signed him to an eight-year contract extension that will start next season and make him the highest-paid player on the team at $12 million per season.

He is showing he is a unique talent worthy of that.

“Twelve straight? Yeah, I’ve never heard of that,” said forward Jason Robertson, when told of Rantanen’s scoring streak. “He’s a premiere player. He gets good bounces and I’m sure everyone else will get good bounces, too. He’s working hard, everyone else is working hard, and I’m sure everyone in here is itching to take the load off him. But we’re happy to take his performances and we’ll just find ways to win.”

It has been a blessing for a team that has battled injuries to Robertson (missing the First Round with a lower body) and Miro Heiskanen (out since January with knee surgery). Robertson returned Wednesday and played 13:44. Heiskanen is skating and could return any game. The fact the Stars are winning without them is huge. Dallas was able to overcome a talented Colorado team in the First Round without both. They were able to win Game 1 in Winnipeg against the team that had the best record in the regular season.

That takes more than just Rantanen.

“I think it’s the first time we won a Game 1 since 2019,” DeBoer said. “I thought our group did a lot of good stuff. [Jake Oettinger] made some huge saves down the stretch, PK was outstanding, got a power-play goal, special teams again were great. So, a lot of things there for us to build on.”

Oettinger finished with 29 saves, including 10 in the third period while Dallas was protecting a one-goal lead. The penalty kill, led by Steel, Esa Lindell, Oskar Bäck, Cody Ceci and Harley, went 4-for-4.

“I liked a lot of the things. There’s a formula in what we did tonight that I think can be successful throughout this series, hopefully,” DeBoer said. “We just have to keep building on those things and eliminate some of the individual mistakes. You’re never going to play a perfect game, and let’s be honest, this is a fantastic home team, second-best home team in the NHL. I don’t think they’ve lost a home playoff game until tonight. It’s not going to be pretty and they’re not going to go down without a fight. I thought we battled hard to the end.”

The decision to use Rantanen on multiple lines started last series, but it’s proving to be a great strategy. The goal with fourth-liners Steel and Dadonov was a fantastic example of just how deep the lines are. The second goal with assists from Harley and Ilya Lyubushkin was also scored with Steel and Dadonov on the ice.

“There’s such a deep lineup and there are so many good players even on the fourth line,” Rantanen said. “Daddy scored 20 goals this year and he’s on the fourth line, so it’s a deep lineup so it’s not really hard.”

Steel added, “It’s cool to see his approach, how intense he is and how he comes in every day and works. You’ll see him after practice just working on little things. It’s easy to see why he is the player he is.”

The Jets went 4-0 at home in the First Round against St. Louis and 0-3 on the road. That’s something the Stars can build on. It will be nice, because they hadn’t won a Game 1 since 2020, and most of these players and coaches are getting to rest their head on a series lead for the first time.

“It’s something we’re not really familiar with, winning Game 1,” Robertson said. “Since I’ve been here in four years since the bubble, we’ve never had that mentality going into Game 2. We’re up a game and we have to take control because we know there’s going to be pushback. We’re normally the team pushing back and trying to even the series. It’s a big mindset in our room, we have a lot of veterans in here who have done it over five years ago, so they’re going to lead us, coaches are going to prepare us, because we have an opportunity here to get both. We’re going to expect their best in Game 2, and like you said, it’s a hard building to win in. To win two, it’s going to take all of us and a big performance.”

Which is a little chance at more history for this group.

This story was not subject to the approval of the National Hockey League or Dallas Stars Hockey Club.

Mike Heika is a Senior Staff Writer for DallasStars.com and has covered the Stars since 1994. Follow him on X @MikeHeika.