Mikko Rantanen has 4-point 3rd period for Stars to unbelievably knock former team out of playoffs

DALLAS (AP) — Mikko Rantanen figures he would have left the room in disbelief had someone told him at the beginning of this season that he would score a hat track in a Game 7 against Colorado.

After all, that was the organization with which he made his NHL debut just weeks before his 19th birthday. He was there for 9 1/2 years and went to the playoffs each of the past seven seasons with the Avalanche in a run that included their 2022 Stanley Cup title.

But twice traded in a six-week span earlier this year, Rantanen did exactly that and more against his original team.

Rantanen assisted on Wyatt Johnston's tiebreaking power-play goal in between his first career postseason hat trick — all coming in the third period of Game 7 for the Dallas Stars on Saturday night. They overcame a two-goal deficit for a 4-2 win over the Avs to wrap up the first-round Western Conference series.

“It’s emotional for sure because everything happened so quick,” Rantanen said. “It’s only a couple of months since I was still with them, playing with them, and chasing a playoff spot and stuff. And all of a sudden, a couple of months later, playing against them in a Game 7.”

After a four-point second period in a loss at Colorado two nights earlier, Rantanen became only the second player in NHL history to have four points in the third period of a Game 7. He also is the only of the nine players with a Game 7 hat trick to score all his goals in the final period.

“We also had the benefit of a motivated guy. You know, this was Colorado and the team that he had played for for a decade,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “And I don’t know all the behind the scenes what went on there, but he was a motivated guy to make an impact in this series. And he just got better and better.”

Rantanen, who could have become a free agent after this season, was first traded from Colorado to Carolina on Jan. 24. He played only 13 games for the Hurricanes before they sent him to Dallas in a deadline deal March 7 that included a $96 million, eight-year contract extension.

“I don’t know revenge,” Rantanen said. “I’m just happy to win as a team in the playoffs. It doesn’t matter who it is.”

In 81 career playoff games for the Avalanche, Rantanen had 101 points (34 goals, 67 assists). His last game with them 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 behind Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar.

Rantanen had five goals and seven assists in the seven-game series against the Avs.

“What he did in the second period the other night ... that’s the thing with Mikko, is it’s not about all his creating multiple chances every time he touches the puck, but big moments,” Colorado coach Jared Bednar said. "That’s what he is, he’s a pure goal scorer. He did that in the third.”

And sent the Avalanche home for the summer.

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

Dallas Stars' Mikko Rantanen (96) celebrates after scoring with Oskar Back (10), Thomas Harley (55) and the rest of the line in the third period in Game 7 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series against the Colorado Avalanche Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Colorado Avalanche goaltender Mackenzie Blackwood (39) and Samuel Girard, center, look on as the Dallas Stars celebrate a goal scored by Dallas Stars' Mikko Rantanen, rear, in the third period in Game 7 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Colorado Avalanche's Mackenzie Blackwood (39) and Dallas Stars' Mikko Rantanen (96) shake hands after the Stars 4-2 win in Game 7 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Fans and Dallas Stars' Mikko Rantanen, celebrate after Rantanen scored an emtpy-net goal against the Colorado Avalanche in the third period in Game 7 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

The Dallas Stars celebrate after Mikko Rantanen, laying against boards at rear, scored against the Colorado Avalanche's Mackenzie Blackwood (39) in the third period in Game 7 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

Colorado Avalanche's Cale Makar (8), Ryan Lindgren (55) Dallas Stars' Mikko Rantanen (96) and Nathan MacKinnon (29) exchange handshakes after the Stars 4-2 win in Game 7 of a first-round NHL hockey playoff series Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

MUMBAI, India (AP) — Shreyas Iyer was provisionally named in India’s squad on Saturday for the home one-day international series against New Zealand starting Jan. 11.

India will host the Black Caps in a white-ball engagement — three ODIs and five T20s — in the build-up to the 2026 T20 World Cup.

Iyer returns to the international fold after sustaining a spleen injury during an ODI against Australia in Sydney last October.

His selection is subject to fitness clearance from BCCI’s medical team and he will return as India’s vice-captain for the three-match series.

Skipper Shubman Gill also returns, after he missed the ODI series against South Africa in December. He had a neck spasm in the test series earlier, and subsequently played in the T20s against the Proteas.

Ruturaj Gaikwad and Tilak Verma missed out. Gaikwad had scored a maiden ODI hundred against South Africa in Visakhapatnam.

Rishabh Pant is retained as second keeper-batter behind Lokesh Rahul, who had stood in as captain against the Proteas.

Star batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma had both participated in the domestic List A tournament — Vijay Hazare Trophy — and return to the international stage for the ODIs.

All-rounder Hardik Pandya is fit, but not sufficiently enough to bowl 10 overs in an ODI. Thus, he has been rested further ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup (in India and Sri Lanka) starting Feb. 7. Nitish Kumar Reddy is included in the squad.

Pacer Mohammed Siraj returns to lead the bowling lineup with Jasprit Bumrah rested again. Siraj had missed the South Africa series because of workload management.

The three ODIs will be played in Vadodara (Jan. 11), Rajkot (Jan. 14) and Indore (Jan. 18), with the five-match T20 series starting Jan. 21.

Squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

FILE - Captain of Punjab Kings Shreyas Iyer addresses a news conference on the eve of the final match of Indian Premier League at Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad, India, Monday, June 2, 2025. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki, File)