Mikko Rantanen set a pair of NHL records Wednesday night, when his natural hat trick was the difference in the Dallas Stars‘ 3-2 Game 1 win over the host Winnipeg Jets in their Western Conference semifinals series.

The Stars winger scored three goals in a 7-minute, 55-second span in the second period. It was his second straight game with a hat trick, having scored three goals in the third period of the Stars’ Game 7 win over the Colorado Avalanche last Saturday.

“Sometimes it’s ups and downs in hockey. Now, it’s going well individually and as a team,” said Rantanen, who leads the playoffs in goals (eight) and points (15).

Rantanen is the first player in Stanley Cup playoff history with multiple three-goal periods in the same postseason. He is only the fourth player in NHL history to achieve the feat at any point in his career, joining Wayne Gretzky, Maurice Richard and Tim Kerr.

Rantanen also set an NHL postseason record for having a goal or an assist on 12 straight scoring plays by his team. That streak began with an assist on Roope Hintz‘s empty-netter in the Stars’ Game 5 win over the Avalanche. Rantanen had one goal and three assists in Game 6 against Colorado, and then three goals and an assist in Game 7.

Rantanen broke a record set by Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 1992.

“Let’s see how long he can run this for. He’s rolling. He’s feeling it,” Dallas coach Peter DeBoer said. “Considering the opponent and the time of year, how he’s dominating games is pretty impressive.”

Winnipeg was up 1-0 in the second period when Evgenii Dadonov blasted a one-timer at Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck. The puck got through Hellebuyck and sat in the Jets’ crease before Rantanen lunged with his stick while falling down to poke it for a 1-1 tie at 8:43.

Just under six minutes later, Rantanen struck again, deflecting a Thomas Harley point shot over the shoulder of Hellebuyck to give Dallas the lead.

He completed the hat trick 2:17 later on a power play, as Rantanen’s shot was deflected off Jets defenseman Dylan Samberg and into the goal to give the Stars a 3-1 lead.

Rantanen is only the fourth player in NHL history, in the playoffs or regular season, to have consecutive games with a hat trick in a single period. The last player to achieve the feat was Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals in 2017. Rantanen is also the first player in nearly 40 years, and the third ever, with hat tricks in consecutive playoff games. He’s also the first player in Dallas Stars and Minnesota North Stars history to produce a natural hat trick in the playoffs.

DeBoer double-shifted Rantanen during the game, playing him on a line with Mikael Granlund and Hintz as well as Dadonov and Sam Steel. The coach said by rolling four lines in Dallas, Rantanen wasn’t getting the same amount of ice time he was earning in Colorado, so double-shifting him made sense. Rantanen played 19:08 in Game 1.

“He’s used to playing big minutes,” DeBoer said.

Rantanen was acquired by the Stars in a blockbuster deal with the Carolina Hurricanes at the NHL trade deadline, with Dallas immediately inking him to an eight-year, $96 million extension. Rantanen was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.

It was the second time Rantanen was traded during the 2024-25 season. The Avalanche traded Rantanen to the Hurricanes in a separate blockbuster trade on Jan. 24.

The Hurricanes decided to trade Rantanen to Dallas when it was clear he wouldn’t sign an extension with Carolina ahead of free agency.

Their losses are the Stars’ gain, as the franchise seeks its first Stanley Cup championship since 2000. Rantanen is trying to earn his second Stanley Cup ring, having won with the Avalanche in 2022. He’s now third in points (77 in 56 games) among all players over the past five postseasons, behind only Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers.

TORONTO — Mitch Marner has experienced a whirlwind stretch — both at home and the rink. Joseph Woll waited patiently and prepared for a chance he wasn’t sure he’d get.

They both came through for the Toronto Maple Leafs in Game 2 of their second-round Eastern Conference playoff series.

Marner scored the tiebreaking goal in the third period and Woll made 25 saves in place of injured Anthony Stolarz as the Maple Leafs beat the Florida Panthers 4-3 on Wednesday night to take a 2-0 series lead.

“A really exciting time in my house,” said Marner, who became a father for the first time over the weekend. “[And] pretty special feeling tonight.”

Woll was pressed into service after Stolarz exited midway through Monday’s opener — a 5-4 Toronto victory — following an elbow to the head from Panthers center Sam Bennett, Woll started for the first time since April 17.

“It’s been something I’ve had to focus on and come up with a plan to stay ready,” Woll said. “It’s a different challenge than playing every night, but a challenge nonetheless.”

Woll, who entered with a .950 save percentage in his four previous playoff starts, also performed well when called upon in both the 2023 and 2024 postseasons because of injury.

“Calm and cool,” Maple Leafs coach Craig Berube said. “On his toes and fighting through traffic. Very impressed.”

Max Pacioretty and Max Domi each had a goal and an assist, William Nylander also scored and Morgan Rielly added two assists for the Maple Leafs.

Anton Lundell had a goal and an assist, and Aleksander Barkov and Brad Marchand also scored for the defending Stanley Cup champion Panthers. Sergei Bobrovsky finished with 16 saves.

“Lots of stuff that we like about our game that we think we can improve,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said. “We’ll take a look at it and get better.”

The best-of-seven matchup between Atlantic Division heavyweights now shifts to South Florida, with Game 3 set for Friday.

Trailing 3-2 after two periods, Florida tied it at 5:33 of the third when Lundell shoveled his third goal of the playoffs past Woll.

Toronto regained the lead just 17 seconds later when Marner fired a shot from the boards that found its way through traffic past a surprised Bobrovsky.

Marner, who turned 28 on Monday, has added an “M” to his equipment since he and wife, Stephanie, welcomed their son, Miles, on Sunday morning.

“Just calmness,” he said of what looking down and seeing that initial does for him. “I try to stay calm as much as I can throughout games. It’s always a roller-coaster ride. There’s always stuff going on, stuff you can’t predict happening. I’m trying to play for him.”

Woll made a huge stop on Mackie Samoskevich with 9:59 left in regulation, and Maple Leafs defenseman Jake McCabe swatted a loose puck out of the crease with under six minutes to go. The Panthers continued to press and Sam Reinhart hit the post with just over three minutes left before the Maple Leafs held on late.

Florida, which beat Toronto in five games two years ago at the same stage of the playoffs, went ahead 2-1 just 15 seconds into the middle period when Marchand — a Maple Leafs playoff nemesis as a member of the Boston Bruins — took a pass from Lundell down low off a turnover by Rielly and roofed for his first goal of the playoffs.

Toronto tied it at 4:18 when Pacioretty chipped a puck past Panthers defenseman Seth Jones before finding Nylander in front for him to bury his sixth, and the forward’s seventh point in three games.

“They’re very good on the rush,” Marchand said. “It seemed like every time we gave them the opportunity to get above us, they created something or capitalized on it.”

The Maple Leafs took a 3-2 lead with 2:51 remaining in the second when Domi took a pass from Steven Lorentz on a 2-on-1 and one-timed his second over a sprawling Bobrovsky.

Toronto came up empty on two power plays inside the game’s first 10 minutes before Florida struck 5 seconds into its first man advantage when Barkov fired past Woll for his second at 10:58.

The Maple Leafs got their third power play of the period when Dmitry Kulikov was whistled for delay of game for shooting the puck out of play. Toronto again didn’t get much going until the second unit took the ice and Rielly fired a shot from the point late in the man advantage that Pacioretty — a healthy scratch to start the postseason before scoring the series-clinching goal against Ottawa in the first round — tipped it upstairs for his second with 1:41 left before the first intermission.

The Panthers had defenseman Aaron Ekblad back after a two-game suspension for a forearm to the chin of Tampa Bay Lightning forward Brandon Hagel in the first round.

NEW YORK — One day after he took live batting practice, a significant step in his return from the injured list, New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton confirmed Wednesday he could return to the team’s lineup by the end of the month.

Stanton participated in batting practice on the field at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday, the first time he has seen live pitching this year after he was shut down with elbow tendinitis in both arms at the beginning of spring training. He saw 10 pitches, hitting a ground ball to shortstop and working a full-count walk in his two plate appearances against right-hander Jake Cousins.

The Yankees moved Stanton from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list last week, pushing his earliest possible return date to May 27. It was a procedural move for New York. The Yankees needed a 40-man roster spot to claim Bryan De La Cruz off waivers, and Stanton was not in line to return before the end of the month.

Stanton, 35, said he expects to go on a rehab assignment. He said he did not have a target date for starting one and didn’t know how long it would last. Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Stanton likely won’t need a long rehab assignment because he doesn’t play a position on defense.

“It depends on what kind of arms I get available [for live batting practice sessions],” Stanton said, “and how I feel in those at-bats.”

Stanton, who also took batting practice on the field Wednesday, has taken rounds of injections to address the pain in his elbows and reiterated that he will have to play through pain whenever he returns.

“If I’m out there, I’m good enough to play,” Stanton said, “and there’s no levels of anything else.”

Stanton’s elbow troubles go back to last season; he played through the World Series with the pain, slugging seven home runs in 14 postseason games. But he said he stopped swinging a bat entirely in January because of severe pain in the elbows and didn’t start taking swings again until March. At one point, Stanton said, season-ending surgery was possible, but that was tabled.

“I know when G’s in there, he’s ready to go,” Boone said. “He’s not going to be in there if he doesn’t feel like he can be really productive, so I know when that time comes, when he’s ready to do that, we should be in a good spot.

“And hopefully we’ve done some things, the latter part of the winter and into the spring, that will set him up to be able to physically do it and withstand it. But also understanding he’ll probably deal with some things.”