Stars' Mikko Rantanen Seeks Last Laugh Over Avalanche

The Dallas Stars are one win away from eliminating the Colorado Avalanche. Leading 3-2 in their first-round series, the Stars can knock off their Central Division rivals.

Winning the series would be a sweet victory for the Stars, but it would be just desserts for Dallas forward Mikko Rantanen. The scoring winger has had a whirlwind season, going from the Avalanche to the Carolina Hurricanes and then to the Stars before the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline.

That set up a predestined meeting between Rantanen and the Avalanche, a team he played for in the first decade of his career and won a Stanley Cup with in 2022. It took the Stars forward a few games to get going, but he's on the verge of getting the last laugh over his former team. In the 20 regular-season games he played with Dallas, he posted five goals and 13 assists for 18 points. He was held off the scoresheet in the first two games of the series, but he's improved drastically in the three games since.

Everything seemed to click for Rantanen in Game 5. A one-goal, two-assist performance led the way for the Stars and put them on the edge of advancing. Rantanen was dynamic, dominant, and looked like the superstar forward he was during the 2022 Stanley Cup run with Colorado.

If he's unlocked that part of his game, the Avalanche are doomed. The Stars will dismantle the Avs in Game 6 with a four-line attack that Colorado will struggle to counter.

And if the Stars do eliminate their Central Division rivals, Rantanen will be smiling from ear to ear. After the drama that played out in Colorado, resulting in failed contract negotiations and the string of trades, it's understandable that Rantanen wants revenge. Eliminating his former team is not only the perfect comeuppance, it'll give Rantanen and his new team the last laugh as they continue their pursuit of the 2025 Stanley Cup.