Mikko Rantanen’s Hat Trick Against Jets in Game 1 Has NHL Fans HYPED Up: “Dude Is a Stud”

Mikko Rantanen scored his 2nd straight hat trick as he bagged three goals in the 2nd period against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 1.

Mikko Rantanen’s Hat Trick Against Jets in Game 1 Has NHL Fans HYPED Up: “Dude Is a Stud”

Mikko Rantanen (Image via Yardbarker)

It seems there is no stopping Mikko Rantanen at the moment. After a hat trick in Game 7 against his former team, the Colorado Avalanche, the Finnish international bagged another hat trick against the Winnipeg Jets in Game 1 of the second-round series.

In Game 6 against the Avalanche, Rantanen collected 4 points (1 goal and 3 assists) in one single period, which saw his team go from 2-0 down to 4-3 up. However, the Avs fired back strongly in the third period and scored 4 times to win 7-4.

During Game 7, once again, the Avs were 2-0. This time, Rantanen scored a hat trick of goals and played a part in another goal to wrap up another 4-point period. His hat trick saw him eliminate his former team from the playoffs.

On Wednesday, the forward start continued from where he left off. With his team 1-0 down in the 2nd period, he poked home the puck from close range to bring them back on level terms. Later in the period, he scored two more in quick succession to complete his 2nd straight hat trick.

This performance of his saw him join an exclusive club. He became just the 3rd player to score hat tricks in back-to-back Stanley Cup playoffs games. The other two are Jari Kurri in 1985 and Doug Bentley in 1944.

His hat trick turned out to be the main difference at the end of the game. The Jets did pull a goal back from the returning Mark Scheifele to make it 3-2, but were unable to find the equalizer and suffered a Game 1 loss.

Social media reacts to Mikko Rantanen’s hat trick against Jets in Game 1

After scoring a hat trick in Game 7 against the Colorado Avalanche, Mikko Rantanen repeated that heroics in Game 1 against the Winnipeg Jets. His natural hat trick in the second period saw the Dallas Stars go from 1-0 down to 3-1 up.

Mikko Rantanen
Mikko Rantanen (Image via Yardbarker)

Fans on social media were left hyped up after this hat trick from him. While some took this moment to once again troll the Avs for trading him away in the first place, some were genuinely left stunned by his showing in this game. One user wrote, “Dude is a stud” while expressing their reaction towards his 2nd successive hat trick.

Check out that and some other reactions from X below:

Rantanen also became the first player in Stanley Cup Playoffs history with multiple three-goal periods in the same postseason At the moment, he is the highest point scorer of his team with 15 points (8 goals and 7 assists) through 8 games.

Avalanche President recently commented on the decision of trading Mikko Rantanen

Mikko Rantanen has been on fire in these playoffs. The 28-year-old has spearheaded the attack of the Dallas Stars after joining them in March. A day before his hat trick against the Winnipeg Jets, the Colorado Avalanche president commented on the decision to trade him.

Mikko Rantanen
Mikko Rantanen (Image via Yardbarker)

Rantanen started the season with the Avs and was in the final year of his contract. When it seemed that he would not sign an extension with them, the team traded him to the Carolina Hurricanes.

After playing 13 games for the Canes, he was traded to the Dallas Stars, where he signed a huge 8-year $96 million contract extension. On Tuesday, Avs president Joe Sakic commented on trading away one of their top players and admitted that it was a “tough decision” to make.

It’s a tough decision trading a guy like that… We wanted to have him signed. I’m not going to go into details and talk about negotiations, but they know where they were at before the trade was made.

Joe Sakic told the reporters in a press conference

So far, the move to the Stars has worked out well for Rantanen. If the team is able to go on and win the Stanley Cup, the decision to trade him in the middle of the season could become a huge one for the Avalanche.

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