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)

MADRID (AP) — Rising fuel costs, discontent with the state of schools, declining public services and a housing crisis have created perfectly stormy weather for an autumn of protests in Europe.

Crowds have taken to the streets for weeks in major cities, resulting in arrests, looting, injuries, and violence across France, Italy and Albania. In Spain and Portugal, tent camps have sprung up in protests against unattainable rents and housing costs.

Young Europeans are experiencing “a strong sense of uncertainty and a lack of control,” said María Silvestre, professor of sociology at the University of Deusto in Spain. “And when specific situations come together, a spark suddenly ignites that is capable of channeling that discontent and driving people into the streets.”

Cities have turned into battlefields as top EU economies, including France, Italy and Spain, approach pivotal elections, while far-right parties have made electoral gains in Germany and could do so elsewhere. It also comes as Europe faces a critical moment in its support for Ukraine, with President Donald Trump making overtures to President Vladimir Putin even as Russia is blamed for increasingly frequent hybrid attacks in NATO countries.

Right-wing politicians have seized on the chaos. While protests in France have appeared broad-based, Trump portrayed immigrants as responsible for the destruction, writing on his Truth Social platform: “The migrants have taken over France. They must CLOSE THE BORDERS, FAST!” on Monday.

Many of the protests have been fueled by frustrated young people. Other elements including black-clad, masked agitators have fomented violence, but French authorities and police have not blamed immigrants.

Here's a look at what's driving the unrest:

In France, which has a centuries-old tradition of popular protest, high schoolers have staged blockades and demonstrations for more than three weeks, demanding more resources for schools they call understaffed and dilapidated, especially in lower-income neighborhoods.

The protests then broadened as France's CGT labor union and other activists joined in while students paused for a fall break. The movement now includes demands over rising living costs and public services.

Despite hundreds of thousands of people marching peacefully, the weekend’s unrest led to 2,400 arrests and serious disturbances in parts of France, including looting in Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Bordeaux. In Limoges, flames engulfed the 19th-century City Hall and nearly destroyed the building. Some schools were set on fire. As students and rioters threw firebombs and law enforcement responded with tear gas, hundreds have been injured.

French President Emmanuel Macron condemned Saturday’s violence, accusing far-left activists of trying to foment chaos by attacking buildings and police.

“Those who looted will have to pay for the damage, and those who sought to bring down the Republic will be held accountable,” Macron said Sunday in a rare televised address.

In Spain, elementary and secondary schoolteachers began an indefinite strike in Madrid last week to demand better pay and working conditions. Discontented teachers staged similar walkouts elsewhere in Spain this year.

In Madrid's central Puerta del Sol, tarpaulin tents have blanketed the square for weeks to protest rising housing costs, sparked by the eviction of Maricarmen, an 87-year-old woman who later died while hospitalized. Smaller protest camps followed in other Spanish cities.

The public pressure led the ruling Socialist government to approve affordable housing measures, but they lacked support in Parliament, triggering a snap election announced by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for November. A general strike also was called for November — the first in 14 years.

Similar housing protests have sprung up in Portugal’s largest cities, Lisbon and Porto, and in Barcelona, a focal point of Spain's overtourism and housing challenges.

Spain's minimum wage is 1,221 euros ($1,370), while the average monthly rent for an 80-square-meter apartment is around 1,130 euros (about $1,270), according to an analysis by the business newspaper Expansión.

“Most of my paycheck goes to the rent. My roommate struggles to make ends meet just like I do,” said Diana Manzanares, a 20-year-old waitress at the Madrid encampment. “This is my reality and the reality of most of us living in this city.”

“Italia in Piazza,” or Italy in the Streets, has galvanized thousands of demonstrators, voicing demands for better employment, healthcare, education, and access to housing, as well as higher wages. Inflation in Italy rose to 4.2% in September, surpassing the eurozone’s 3.8%, according to government data.

The peaceful marches were followed by violent riots in Turin and Bologna, and in Italy's finance and fashion capital of Milan, where masked rioters clashed with police, looted stores and set property on fire. Milan police said 271 people were arrested — most of them minors — and 14 security officers were injured during two days of unrest.

Now a newly formed group calling itself the “Oct. 17 Movement” has announced what it describes as a “permanent mobilization” to demonstrate every Saturday at 3 p.m. in cities across Italy.

Anti-government protests have stretched over a week in Albania's capital of Tirana, with clashes escalating after high school and university students joined the broad anti-government “Flamingo” movement calling for Socialist Prime Minister Edi Rama to resign.

Rama has condemned the protesters as “ideologized and radicalized” by antifa, an umbrella term for loosely organized far-left militants in the United States, where President Donald Trump has designated the movement a terrorist organization.

Ending corruption is a major demand of the movement, which was named for the natural habitat of flamingos in an area where Rama's government agreed to allow a major luxury tourism development linked to Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law. They also want protections for healthcare, education, and public pensions, according to its website.

In Serbia, the university students leading mass anti-corruption protests for nearly two years are challenging an attempted return to power by the Balkan country’s former populist leader Aleksandar Vucic in parliamentary elections.

The former authoritarian president is aiming to be named prime minister after the Oct. 25 vote. The youth-backed Students’ List party is believed to be running close to Vucic’s party, making the outcome uncertain and fueling fears of possible violence.

A protester holds a French flag at Republic Square during a demonstration against rising living costs, joining students' grievances, in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

Police confront "Italia in Piazza" protesters in Milan, Italy, on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. (Stefano Porta/LaPresse via AP)

Protesters gather during clashes at an anti-government demonstration in Tirana, Albania, Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Hameraldi Agolli)

A man sets up a roof cover at a makeshift camp set up by protesters demanding stronger laws to protect renters in Puerta del Sol square in Madrid, Spain, Friday, Oct. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Protesters march during a demonstration against rising living costs, joining students' grievances, in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

A protester wraps a French flag around them in front of the burning tourism office during a demonstration against rising living costs and in solidarity with students’ grievances in Lyon, France, Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)