Red-hot Rantanen sets records with G1 hat trick
-
Greg Wyshynski
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.
-
Kristen Shilton
The Vancouver Canucks have come to terms with forward Brock Boeser on a new seven-year contract, carrying a $7.25 million AAV.
Canucks GM Patrik Allvin announced the deal on Tuesday during the first hour of NHL free agency. Boeser, 28, was an unrestricted free agent on a previously expiring contract.
Drafted by Vancouver 23rd overall in the 2015 NHL draft, Boeser has collected 204 goals and 434 points in 554 games with the Canucks to date. A top-six scoring threat, Boeser has elite playmaking skills and the potential to produce big numbers offensively. He had his best year offensively in 2023-24, producing 40 goals and 73 points in 81 games.
Boeser didn’t hit those marks again last season — settling for 25 goals and 50 points in 75 games — but was still second amongst teammates in output. He also plays a prominent role on Vancouver’s power play and when he can generate opportunities at 5-on-5, he is a true difference-maker up front for the Canucks.
The extension is a happy ending for Vancouver and Boeser. When the regular season ended, Boeser admitted “it’s tough to say” whether he’d be back with the Canucks. Boeser reportedly turned down a previous five-year extension offer with the club and Allvin subsequently looked into deals for him at the March trade deadline, with no takers. Boeser looked — and sounded — poised to explore his options on the open market.
Ultimately, Boeser decided to stay put by committing the best years of his career to the Canucks.
-
Ryan S. Clark
Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary signed a seven-year extension through the 2032-33 season that is worth $6 million annually, the team announced Tuesday.
Fehervary, who had one year of team control remaining, will enter the final season of a three-year bridge deal that will see him make $2.675 million before his new contract begins at the start of the 2026-27 season.
He finished the season with five goals and a career-high 25 points while logging 19 minutes. Fehervary also played a crucial role in the Capitals’ penalty kill by finishing with 245 short-handed minutes for a penalty kill that was fifth in the NHL with an 82% success rate.
Securing the 25-year-old Fehervary to a long-term deal means the Capitals now have seven players who have more than three years remaining on their current contracts.
It also means the Capitals front office has one less decision to make ahead of what is expected to be an active offseason in 2026 that will see the club have what PuckPedia projects to be $39.25 million in cap space.
That’s also the same offseason in which captain and NHL all-time leading goal scorer Alex Ovechkin‘s contract will come off their books along with that of defenseman John Carlson.
But until then, the Capitals have their entire top-six defensive unit under contract as they seek to improve upon a 2024-25 season that saw them finish atop the Metropolitan Division with 111 points before they lost in the Eastern Conference semifinal to the Carolina Hurricanes in five games.
-
Sports3 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports2 years agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Sports2 years agoButton battles heat exhaustion in NASCAR debut
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike