Mikko Rantanen is on a straight-up heater, folks. Just days after dropping a third-period hat trick in Game 7 to boot the Avalanche, he turned around and on Wednesday night, under the bright lights of Canada Life Centre, Rantanen lit the lamp not once, not twice to drag the Stars to a wild 3-2 dub over the Jets in Game 1 of the second round. The guy basically went full video game mode, scoring in every flavor—dirty rebound, silky deflection, and a power play bouncer that kissed a defender’s stick on the way in.

And shout-out to Jake Oettinger, who was holding it down like a fortress in the net with 30 saves, while the Jets, yeah, the President’s Trophy Jets, tried to rally back behind goals from Nino Niederreiter and Mark Scheifele (who just came back from injury and wasted zero time making noise). But Rantanen? He said nah, not tonight. Now, he’s out here dunking on history, leaving Brad Marchand and a bunch of playoff legends in his rearview with that record-breaking heat. Game 2’s coming fast, and if Rantanen keeps cooking like this, someone better check if his stick’s enchanted or something.

Mikko Rantanen is out here rewriting playoff history with a Sharpie, y’all. On Wednesday night in Winnipeg, Rantanen dropped a nasty natural hat trick in the second period. He already cooked up a hat trick in the third period against Colorado to close the book on Round 1, and now? He’s out here casually becoming the first player ever in Stanley Cup Playoffs history to throw down multiple three-goal periods in the same postseason.

And yeah, the stats don’t lie; they’re just out here singing his praises like a hype squad. NHL Fantasy/EDGE dropped the mic with: “Most consecutive goals scored or assisted on in #StanleyCup Playoffs history: Mikko Rantanen – 12 Mario Lemieux – 9 Brad Marchand – 8 Rick Middleton – 8 Guy Lafleur – 8 Norm Ullman – 8.” Real Sports followed it up with: “Mikko Rantanen becomes the 3rd player in NHL playoff history to have back-to-back hat tricks.”

Then Sportsnet Stats went full historian and added: “Back-to-back Hat Tricks: Stanley Cup Playoffs history Doug Bentley (1944) Jari Kurri (1985) Mikko Rantanen (2025)”. Dude’s skating through history books like they’re warm-up drills. Oh, and by the way, he’s sitting on 14 points in just four games, with 12 straight Dallas goals featuring his magic touch.

“Let’s see how long he can run this for,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said with a grin, watching Mikko Rantanen go full beast mode. “He’s rolling, and he’s feeling it and pretty impressive what he’s doing, considering the opponent and the time of year and how he’s dominating games.” And now with the spotlight beaming down and the stakes sky-high, Mikko’s out there not just shining; he’s basically stardust in motion, keeping the Stars lit and alive with every electric shift.

Mikko Rantanen keeps the Stars alive!

Game 7 was pure Hollywood drama, and Mikko Rantanen? Oh, he stepped in like the main character with his cape already fluttering. With the Stars trailing 2-0 and the pressure cranked all the way up, Rantanen straight-up morphed into playoff magic. A hat trick, a four-point period, and a whole lotta revenge fire lit under him as he sent his former squad, the Avalanche, packing. “Revenge? I’m just happy to win another team in the playoffs,” Mikko shrugged, but let’s be real, that Game 7 glow-up said it all.

Coach Pete DeBoer summed it up best: “Let’s be honest, he took over the series the last three, four games… what you witnessed there was special.” And with the Stars missing key players like Miro Heiskanen and Jason Robertson, Mikko didn’t blink; he dominated. Paired with Roope Hintz and Granlund, the Finnish Line ran wild and powered Dallas into round two with that unstoppable energy only the postseason brings.

From quiet beginnings in the series to racking up 11 points in just three games, Mikko’s making sure everyone knows exactly why Jim Nill locked him up with that $96 million deal. He’s now got 113 playoff points in 88 games, sitting above Messier in playoff points-per-game. Not bad for a guy who wasn’t feeling Carolina vibes and found his spotlight in Texas instead. Bottom line? Rantanen isn’t just a NHL trade win, he’s the whole dang jackpot.