It was a night to remember for both Mikko Rantanen and Stars’ fans alike. Dallas was down 2-0 in the third period of Game 7 in its first round series vs. the Avalanche, but then Rantanen went to work.
The Finnish star scored a pair of goals to tie the game, before then completing the hat trick on an empty-netter with 2.7 seconds left. It was the first Game 7, third-period hat trick in NHL history. Watch all three of his goals below:
There is plenty of irony in this, because Rantanen was traded from the Avs to the Hurricanes in January, before Carolina then shipped him to Dallas at the trade deadline. All of that preceded him sending his former team home. Dallas will now play the winner of Sunday’s Game 7 between the Blues and Jets in the second round.