Mikko Rantanen is settling in as a Star, and now really on other side after goal against the Avs

DALLAS (AP) — Mikko Rantanen is now really on the other side, settling in as a Star and going back to Colorado with a chance to advance in the NHL playoffs.

In his first postseason series with Dallas, against his former team no less, Rantanen broke through with first playoff goal and two assists for the Stars in their Game 5 victory that put them on the verge of eliminating the Avalanche for the second year in a row.

“It's reality, I guess,” Rantanen said with a grin Wednesday, the day before Game 6 of the series.

After being in the playoffs with the Avs each of the past seven years and playing with them during 10 seasons, including their Stanley Cup title in 2022, Rantanen was traded twice in a six-week period — first to Carolina on Jan. 24, then to Dallas on March 7 in a deadline deal completed after he agreed to a $96 million, eight-year contract extension.

Playoffs included, the 28-year-old Rantanen has now played 25 games with the Stars.

“That's the biggest thing, I think, is settling in and playing with instinct,” Rantanen said. “The systems and everything, it’s in the back of my mind now, so I don’t have to think about anything on the ice, like where I have to go. It comes with instinct and it’s going to come even more the more games go by. ... Settling is a good word to say, which is always key to playing well.”

It was in Game 6 at Colorado last season that the Stars wrapped up a second-round series on Matt Duchene's goal 11:42 into the second overtime for a 2-1 victory. Rantanen had the lone Avalanche goal in that game.

In Game 3 of this series, his first in the playoffs as an opponent in Colorado, Rantanen had the secondary assist on Tyler Seguin's overtime winner. That was Rantanen's only postseason point for Dallas until Game 5, when his goal came on a 2-on-1 break and some nifty back-and-forth passing with Roope Hintz. He did have 12 shots on goal the first four games.

“He is settling and I think he’s a lot closer than the numbers say. I thought he’s had two or three really good games in this series so far,” Dallas coach Pete DeBoer said. “He played great that night in Colorado (Game 3). ... I think he’s stringing together more and more games here where he looks comfortable, and he’s going to make an impact even if the points aren't showing it.”

In 81 career playoff games for Colorado, Rantanen had 101 points (34 goals, 67 assists). His last game with the Avalanche was Jan. 22, but the regular season ended with him still as their third-leading scorer with 64 points (25 goals, 39 assists) in his 49 games there, behind Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.

After six points (two goals) in his 13-game stint with Carolina, Rantanen had five goals and 13 assists over the final 20 regular-season games for Dallas, giving him an 82-game total of 88 points (32 goals). It was the seventh time in eight seasons to average more than a point a game, the lone exception in that stretch being 41 points in 42 games in 2019-20.

He is on a line in Dallas with fellow Finnish players Hintz and Mikael Granlund. Hintz, the same age as Rantanen, has played all seven of his NHL seasons with Dallas. The 33-year-old Granlund was acquired from San Jose in a trade on Feb. 1, and has only 11 more games in Dallas than Rantanen.

“They have a history together as Finnish players and national teams and things like that,” DeBoer said. “I don’t know if they played together as a line before, but I think that always speeds up the chemistry when you have a familiarity like that and you know, they’re countrymen, they speak Finnish to each other, they can communicate really easily.”

Duchene played his first eight-plus NHL seasons with Colorado, where his final full season was when Rantanen was a rookie.

“Having him in the room is good,” Duchene said. “You know he's a great player because he behaves like a great player. So, easy guy to bring in.”

This story has been corrected to show Rantanen had 101 playoff points with Colorado, not 99.

AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/NHL

Dallas Stars right wing Mikko Rantanen, left, gets tied up by Colorado Avalanche left wing Jonathan Drouin in overtime of Game 3 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson, left, and Dallas Stars right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) collide while competing for the puck during the first period in Game 2 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Monday, April 21, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Dallas Stars right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) chases the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Nashville Predators, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

Dallas Stars right wing Mikko Rantanen, center, pursues the puck with Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard, left, and center Brock Nelson in the second period of Game 4 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series Saturday, April 26, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

Dallas Stars right wing Mikko Rantanen brings the puck down the ice in the second period of Game 3 of an NHL hockey first-round playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche Wednesday, April 23, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Lindsey Graham’s sister, Darline Graham Nordone, has been named as her late brother's temporary replacement in the U.S. Senate after his unexpected death over the weekend.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster announced at a news conference at the Statehouse on Monday that Nordone would serve the remaining months on Graham's current term, which expires in January. Senate Majority Leader John Thune said afterward that she will be sworn in Tuesday afternoon.

Nordone will be the first woman to represent the state in the Senate.

“It is such an honor,” she said, as dozens of Graham staffers and campaign advisers stood behind her, some with eyes glassy from welling tears. “Lindsey has always been there for me. And now, I will be there for him.”

Graham died on Saturday night at age 71. He never married or had a family of his own, but Nordone was often by her brother's side for the political touch points of his career, speaking at events and appearing in some of his campaign ads.

After their parents died at a young age, Graham was left to raise his sister, for whom he later became legal guardian. They were very close, and she was there as he filed reelection paperwork earlier this year, along with her children and grandchildren.

“To Lindsey, I miss you more than I can even put into words," Nordone said, emotion rising in her voice. "But I'm going to do this. I got it.”

Introducing Nordone, McMaster said the two had spoken in “in the wee hours of Sunday morning” after Graham's death, and he asked her to serve.

“I had wondered what you would say, and I was humbled by your quickness to see the duty that you had to serve,” McMaster said. He added that President Donald Trump “thought it was a great idea” when he later told him of his pick. Trump announced his support for Nardone to fill the seat earlier Monday.

Nordone has worked as an optician and at various state agencies, including the South Carolina Commission for the Blind and the Department of Employment and Workforce. She lives in Lexington, is a graduate of the College of Charleston and has a master’s degree in rehabilitation counseling.

A special election will be held next month to pick a new Republican nominee in the general election for Graham’s seat. He had been seeking a fifth term this year.

The rare open Senate seat has ignited a scramble among South Carolina’s most ambitious conservatives, who have been eager to climb the political ladder.

Republicans just finished a sprawling and bruising contest to figure out their nominee for succeeding McMaster, who is wrapping up his second term. State Attorney General Alan Wilson won the nomination, overcoming a field that included Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, Rep. Nancy Mace and Ralph Norman — all of whom are now eyeing Graham’s seat following his death over the weekend.

According to South Carolina law, a one-week filing period for a special primary election begins on the second Tuesday after the candidate’s death, or July 21.

The special primary election would be held on the second Tuesday after that filing period closes, or Aug. 11. Any necessary runoff would follow two weeks after that, or Aug. 25.

From that point, the new nominee would have just over two months to campaign for the general election on Nov. 3.

All of this is problematic according to federal law, which requires military and overseas ballots to go out 45 days before any federal election. For the special election primary, that would have been June 27. Federal Election Commission officials didn’t immediately return a message seeking clarity about the process.

Graham died on Saturday night, and a preliminary medical examiner report said he suffered a tear in his aorta, known as an aortic dissection.

In the hours after Graham's death was announced, South Carolina’s Republican circles were already swirling with rumors about possible replacements.

Evette, who has served nearly eight years alongside McMaster and received his endorsement in the governor's race, is one possibility. She lost the June 23 runoff to Wilson.

Mace and Norman could run in the special primary as well. Neither of them are running for reelection to their House seats.

But another Republican from the state, Rep. Russell Fry, could be a possibility. The two-term lawmaker represents the growing area around Myrtle Beach, and he's been a top Trump ally.

Businessman Mark Lynch, whom Graham defeated in the primary, may jump into the race. So could Mark Sanford, the state's former governor who served two separate stints in the House.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who lived in South Carolina before joining the Trump administration, has fielded calls about potentially replacing Graham but doesn’t have interest in the role and enjoys working for the president, according to a person who insisted on anonymity to describe private conversations.

No Democrat has won a Senate seat in South Carolina in decades, and Republicans in recent history typically take statewide seats by double digits. When Graham last ran in 2020, he defeated his Democratic opponent, Jaime Harrison, by a 10 percentage point margin.

So while history suggests that Graham was en route to a fifth term, Republicans are carefully surveying the landscape.

Charleston pediatrician Annie Andrews won the Democratic nomination last month and has raised more than $8 million in the race, and she had just under $3 million cash on hand at the end of May, according to federal filings. Graham had taken in $6 million, with just over $4 million on hand.

In a statement Sunday, Andrews called on South Carolinians to join her “in setting partisanship aside and offering gratitude" to Graham for his service.

Harrison, noting that he and Graham “had our share of political disagreements,” wrote on social media that he “always appreciated that even in our fiercest political battles, we could still share a conversation, a laugh, and a mutual respect for South Carolina and the institutions we were both privileged to serve.”

Associated Press writer Fatima Hussein in Washington contributed to this report.

Kinnard reported from Charleston, South Carolina, and can be reached at http://x.com/MegKinnardAP.

South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster speaks to media to announce the appointment of Darline Graham Nordone to fill the vacancy created by the passing of her brother, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, at the statehouse Monday, July 13, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)

Newly appointed U.S. interim Senator, Darline Graham Nordone, with South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, right, and Sen. Time Scott (R-SC), left, speaks to members of the press after being appointed of to fill the vacancy created by the passing of her brother, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, at the statehouse Monday, July 13, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)

Newly appointed U.S. interim Senator, Darline Graham Nordone, with South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster, right, speaks to members of the press after being appointed of to fill the vacancy created by the passing of her brother, U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham, at the statehouse Monday, July 13, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)

FILE - Vice President Joe Biden, right, administers the Senate oath to Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., left, as Graham's sister Darline Graham looks on during a ceremonial re-enactment swearing-in ceremony, Jan. 6, 2015, in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

FILE - Republican presidential candidate, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., accompanied by his sister Darline, left, speaks at the GOP headquarters in Columbia, S.C., Sept. 1, 2015, where he filed for the South Carolina Presidential Primary. (AP Photo/Richard Shiro, File)

FILE - Darline Graham Nordone, sister of Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., walks to the stage before his announcement for presidency on Monday, June 1, 2015, in Central, S.C. (AP Photo/Rainier Ehrhardt, File)

FILE - South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster speaks to reporters, May 5, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins, File)

FILE - Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., takes the oath of office with Vice President Dick Cheney, right, during a re-enactment swearing-in ceremony in the Old Senate Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington, Jan. 7, 2003, following his election to the Senate. (AP Photos/Evan Vucci, File)

FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump speaks as Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., listen, at a primary election night party at the South Carolina State Fairgrounds in Columbia, S.C., Feb. 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)