Mikko Rantanen made sure the Colorado Avalanche missed him in Game 7 of their first-round series against the Dallas Stars in the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs. Rantanen scored a third-period hat trick against his former team to lead the Stars to the second round with a 4-2 comeback win on Saturday night.

For nearly two and a half periods, the Avalanche had put up a defensive wall. Rantanen busted it down with two individual efforts.

Despite goals from Josh Manson in the second period and Nathan MacKinnon to open the third, the Avs conceded four unanswered goals in the final frame, falling 4-2 at American Airlines Center.